SOCIAL   I 
ENVIRON  MEN 


G.  R.  DAVIE S 


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'PRIVATE  LIBRARY 

of 
KIMBALL  YOUNG 

3-  3-  -i-^ 
Uo+  O. 


The  National  Social  Science  Series     ' 

Edited  by  Frank  L.  McVey,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  j 

President  of  the  University  of  North  Dakota 

Now  Ready;      Each,  Fifty  Cents  Net 

PROPERTY  AND  SOCIETY.  A.  A.  Bruce,  Asso- 
ciate Justice  Supreme  Court,  North  Dakota,  Com- 
missioner on  Uniform  State  Laws,  etc. 

WOMEN  WORKERS  AND  SOCIETY.  Annie  M. 
MacLean,  Assistant  Professor  of  Sociology,  The 
University  of  Chicago. 

SOCIOLOGY.  John  M.  Gillette,  Professor  of  Soci- 
ology, The  University  of  North  Dakota. 

THE  FAMILY  AND  SOCIETY.    John  M.  Gillette. 

THE  AMERICAN  CITY.  Henry  C.  Wright,  First 
Deputy  Commissioner  Department  of  Pubhc  Chari- 
ties, New^  York  City. 

GOVERNMENT  FINANCE  IN  THE  UNITED 
STATES.  Carl  C.  Plehn,  Professor  of  Finance, 
The  University  of  California. 

THE  COST  OF  LIVING.  Walter  E.  Clark,  Pro- 
fessor and  Head  of  the  Department  of  Political 
Science,  The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

TRUSTS  AND  COMPETITION.  John  F.  Crowell, 
Associate  Editor  of  the  Wall  Street  Journal. 

MONEY.  William  A.  Scott,  Director  of  the  Course 
in  Commerce,  and  Professor  of  Political  Economy, 
The  University  of  Wisconsin. 

BANKING.    William  A.  Scott. 

TAXATION.  C.  B.  Fillebrown,  President  Massa- 
chusetts Single  Tax  League. 

THE  CAUSE  AND  CURE  OF  CRIME.  Charles  R. 
Henderson,  late  Professor  of  Sociology,  The  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago. 

THE  STATE  AND  GOVERNMENT.  Jeremiah  S. 
Young,  Professor  of  Political  Science,  The  University 
of  Minnesota. 


The  National  Social  Science  Series 


SOCIAL  ENVIRONMENT.  G.  R.  Davies,  Assistant 
Professor  of  History  and  Sociology,  The  University 
of  North  Dakota. 

THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CITIZENSHIP.  Arland  D. 
Weeks,  Professor  of  Education,  North  Dakota  Agri- 
cultural College. 

In  Preparation 

THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE.  A.  B.  Hall,  Professor 
of  Political  Science,  University  of  Wisconsin. 

THE  NEWSPAPER  AS  A  SOCIAL  FACTOR. 
Allan  D.  Albert,  Former  Editor  Minneapolis  Trib- 
une, President  International  Association  of  Rotary 
Clubs. 

THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  LAND  IN  AMERICA. 
Charles  W.  Holman,  Editorial  writer,  Expert  of 
United  States  Industrial  Commission,  Secretary  of 
National  Conference  on  Marketing  and  Farm  Credits. 

MODERN  PHILANTHROPY.  Eugene  T.  Lies,  Gen- 
eral Superintendent,  Chicago  United  Charities,  Lec- 
turer Chicago  School  of  Civics  and  Philanthropy,  Di- 
rector Illinois  Commission  on  Social  Legislation. 

SOCIAL  AND  ECONOMIC  LEGISLATION.  Jere- 
miah S.  Young. 

POPULATION.  E.  Dana  Durand,  Former  Director 
United  States  Census,  Professor  of  Statistics,  The 
University  of  Minnesota. 

COOPERATION.  L.  D.  H.  Weld,  Professor  of  Busi- 
ness Administration,  Yale  University. 

THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY  AS  A  SOCIAL  FACTOR. 
W.  D.  Johnston,  Librarian  of  the  St.  Paul  Public 
Library,  author  of  History  of  the  Library  of  Congress. 

A.  C  McCLURG  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS,  CHICAGO 


Social  Environment 


BY 

George  R.  Davies,  Ph.D. 

Assistant  Professor  of  History  and  Socioloey 
The  University  of  North  Dakota 


CHICAGO 

A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO. 

1917 


Copyright 

A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co. 

1917 


Published  March,   1917 


Copyrighted  in  Great  Britain 


F.  MALL  PRINTING  COMPANY,  CHIOAOO 


SANTA  BAEUAiiA    '* 

EDITOR'S  PREFACE 

SO  much  emphasis  has  been  placed  upon  the 
biological  factor  in  the  writings  of  sociolo- 
gists, that  Professor  Davies'  book  brings  a 
new  element  into  the  discussion  of  social 
problems.  How  far  does  the  .accumulated 
knowledge  and  experience  of  the  world  modify 
the  individual  and  give  him  control  over  bio- 
logical factors?  The  source  of  ability,  mental 
p^vver,  and  moral  force,  after  all,  appears  as 
the  important  element  in  society.  The  contri- 
bution which  this  book  makes  is  in  the  empha- 
sis given  to  influences  of  social  environment 
upon  the  growth  and  personality  of  the  indi- 
vidual. War  and  war  talk  are  the  logical 
outcome  of  the  biological  contest,  but  in  real- 
ity should  be  offset  by  an  appreciation  of  the 
psychological  and  spiritual  elements  of  civiliza- 
tion, which,  when  properly  measured,  are  larger 
factors  than  the  biological  forces  so  reverently 
referred  to  by  most 

F.  L.  M. 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

THE  aim  of  this  book  is  to  set  forth  the 
nature  of  society  as  primarily  a  spiritual 
rather  than  a  biological  reality.  The  term  spirit- 
ual as  used  in  this  connection  is  taken  to  refer 
to  the  intellectual,  artistic,  and  moral  achieve- 
ments of  civilization  —  the  accumulated  capital 
of  knowledge  and  experience.  In  contrast  with 
this  view,  which  is  the  traditional  one  in  soci- 
ology, is  set  forth  the  prevalent  conception  that 
makes  the  biological  factors  the  primary  social 
elements.  It  is  admitted  that  in  contrasting 
sharply  two  such  complex  points  of  view  suffi- 
cient allowance  is  not  made  for  many  diverging 
and  reconciling  theories,  but  in  so  brief  a  work 
these  modifications  could  not  be  given  much 
place.  In  emphasizing  the  creative  influences  of 
the  social  environment,  the  author  pleads  guilty 
to  having  pushed  the  argument  a  little  beyond 
the  conventional  limit  usually  set  by  sociologists. 
The  statistical  study  which  appears  in  the 
appendix  and  in  chapter  four  was  published  in 
practically  the  same  form  in  the  Quarterly  Jour- 
nal of  the  University  of  North  Dakota,  April, 


Author's  Preface 


19 14.  It  is  an  abstract  of  a  more  extended  study 
which  was  prepared  as  a  doctor's  thesis  under 
the  direction  of  Professor  J.  M.  Gillette  of 
the  University  of  North  Dakota,  to  whom 
grateful  acknowledgment  is  made  for  advice 
and  aid. 

G.  R.  D. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chapter  I.    The  Biological  Point  of  View    .    .  1 

1.  Biological    Principles 3 

2.  Early  Stages  of  Evolution       5 

3.  Life  on  the  Land 7 

4.  The  Beginnings  of  Human  Society     .     .  9 

5.  The  Consolidation  of  Society     ....  15 

6.  Present-day  Society 17 

Chapter  II.    The  Evolution  of  the  Theory  of 

Evolution        21 

1.  Background  in  English  History      ...  21 

2.  The  Industrial    Revolution 24 

3.  Laissez    Faire 28 

4.  The  Theory  of  Malthus 35 

5.  The  Doctrine  of  Evolution 39 

6.  The  Application   of   Darwinism       ...  41 

7.  The  Reaction  in  Literature 44 

8.  The  Dilemma  of  English  Thought     .     .  46 

9.  German  Social    Development       ....  49 

10.  German  Interpretations  of  Evolution      .  52 

11.  Evolution  and  Modern  Conditions      .     .  55 

Chapter  III.    The  Nature  of  Society    ....  58 

1.  Darwinism  and   Sociology 59 

2.  Creative    Evolution 60 

3.  The  Essentials  of  Society 63 

4.  Human  Nature  and  the  Social  Heritage   .  65 

5.  The  Dynamic  Element  in  Society       .     .  70 

6.  The  Social  Environment 76 


Contents 


PAGE 

Chapter  IV.     Social  Environment  and  Eugenics  82 

1.  Biological  Extremes  in  Eugenics    ...  82 

2.  Recent  Data  on   Heredity 84 

3.  Statistical  Proof  of  the  Social  Environ- 

ment       88 

4.  Social  Standards  for  Eugenics    ....  119 

Chapter  V.    The  Outlook  for  Social  Organiza- 
tion           122 

1.  The  Perspective  of  History 123 

2.  The  Basis  of  Improvement 125 

3.  The  Force   of   Idealism       126 

4.  Regulation  of  Economic  Freedom      .    .  130 

5.  Social    Legislation 132 

6.  Expert    Leadership 135 

Appendix       .    .  138 

References 145 

Index ,    ....  147 


SOCIAL  ENVIRONMENT 


Social  Environment 

CHAPTER  I 

THE    BIOLOGICAL    POINT    OF   VIEW 

THERE  are  not  many  persons,  probably, 
who  fully  appreciate  the  revolutionary 
changes  that  have  come  over  the  modern  con- 
ception of  human  nature  and  human  society. 
If  one  goes  back  to  the  philosophers  who 
helped  to  lay  the  foundations  of  the  modern 
age  —  Calvin  and  Locke,  for  example  —  he 
finds  that  in  their  reasoning  they  often  drew 
conclusions  from  the  mental  skies  of  imagina- 
tion and  abstraction.  They  were  not  at  all  par- 
ticular about  the  exactness  of  their  facts  so 
long  as  they  succeeded  in  constructing  a  theory 
that  agreed  with  their  preconceptions. 

The  modern  thinker,  however,  distrusts  any 
such  airy  foundation  for  his  logic.  With  a 
hunger  for  the  exact  facts  he  turns,  instead,  to 
digging  in  the  soil  of  the  actual  past  where  he 
finds  recorded  the  sordid  details  of  man's  early 
struggles,  and  to  a  careful  examination  of  hu- 

I 


Social  Environment 


man  nature  as  it  is  today.  As  a  consequence, 
he  has  concluded  that  his  family  tree  does  not 
run  back  to  the  gods,  but  to  the  beasts.  Out 
of  the  newly  accumulated  facts  he  has  built  a 
system  of  thought,  known  in  general  as  the 
evolutionary  philosophy,  through  which  he  has 
endeavored  to  give  a  consistent  account  of  the 
development  of  life  in  its  ascent  from  the  pro- 
tozoa up  to  civilized  man.  If  these  new 
theories  remained  merely  in  the  realm  of  spec- 
ulation they  would  not,  of  course,  have  any 
practical  interest,  but  the  fact  is  that  they  are 
as  profoundly  influencing  modern  life  as  Cal- 
vin's and  Locke's  ideas  influenced  a  former  age. 
A  consideration  of  them,  though  seeming  to 
lead  far  afield,  will  therefore  bring  us  face  to 
face  with  the  realities  of  today. 

Because  of  its  emphasis  on  concrete  facts 
established  through  the  evidence  of  the  senses, 
modern  thought  is  called  materialistic.  So  far 
as  it  bears  upon  man  and  his  civilization,  it  is 
mainly  biological;  that  is,  it  views  man  from 
the  standpoint  of  his  animal  origin  in  competi- 
tion with  the  various  elements  of  his  environ- 
ment, and  subject  to  natural  laws.  It  may  be 
objected  that  the  biological  point  of  view  as  it 
interprets  modern  life  has  been  overempha- 


Biological  Point  of  View 


sized;  not  that  it  is  materially  mistaken  in  its 
facts,  but  that  it  has  failed  properly  to  appre- 
ciate the  psychological  or  spiritual  elements  of 
civilization.  As  a  result,  it  is  stimulating  rather 
than  repressing  such  evils  as  commercialism 
and  militarism,  which  are  the  products  of  the 
inadequately  harnessed  animal  nature  of  man. 
It  may  also  be  pointed  out  that  restraining  and 
giving  direction  to  the  aggressively  selfish  bio- 
logical forces,  are  less  obvious  but  mighty  in- 
fluences arising  out  of  social  activities.  But 
we  shall  first  merely  attempt  to  review  the  story 
of  human  evolution  as  it  appears  from  the  bio- 
logical point  of  view.  In  so  doing  no  attempt 
will  be  made  to  gloss  over,  as  so  often  is  done, 
the  naked  savagery  of  the  story. 

I.  Biological  Principles 

As  the  evolutionist  looks  at  the  matter,  the 
life  process  began  long  millenniums  ago  at  the 
point  where  in  the  warm  oceans  of  the  half- 
finished  earth  certain  atoms  fell  into  complex 
combinations  that  gave  them  mass  and  motion. 
In  some  such  obscure  way  originated  the  primi- 
tive protoplasm  which  is  the  basis  of  all  living 
things.  This  primitive  protoplasm  as  seen,  for 
example,  in  the  relatively  formless,  microscopic 


4  Social  Environment 

amoeba,  immediately  began  reaching  out  with 
insatiable  appetite  to  its  environment  in  the 
endeavor  to  assimilate  to  itself  as  food  all  that 
it  could  master.  The  aggressive  growth  pro- 
cess thus  beginning  is  taken  as  the  most  funda- 
mental principle  of  life,  from  amoebas  to 
empires.  Growth  early  branched  into  the  two 
allied  activities  of  feeding  and  reproducing — 
the  hunger  and  love  which  are  said  to  have 
built  the  world. 

The  second  principle  to  which  the  biologist 
calls  our  attention  is  that  which  underlies  repro- 
duction. In  varying  environments  the  first 
simple  forms  of  life  gradually  became  unlike 
each  other,  and  eventually,  as  the  methods  of 
reproduction  became  more  complex,  life  ac- 
quired a  cei"tain  racial  flexibility.  In  explana- 
tion of  this  flexibility  it  has  been  shown  that 
in  the  growth  and  conjugation  of  the  micro- 
scopic cells  which  form  the  bridge  from  one 
generation  to  another,  nature  throws  together 
the  hereditary  elements  derived  from  the  ances- 
tral lines  as  if  she  were  playing  a  gigantic 
game  of  dice.  Out  of  this  shuffling  of  the  fac- 
tors of  heredity  may  come  fortunate  combina- 
tions, giving  rise  to  individuals  better  adapted 
to  the  demands  of  their  environment;  and  thus 


Biological  Point  of  View 


life  flows,  so  to  speak,  into  progressively  diver- 
gent forms.  In  the  process  of  time  the  innu- 
merable species  and  varieties  of  the  vegetable 
and  animal  world  spring  into  being. 

A  third  biological  principle  is  the  inevitable 
struggle  for  survival  that  arises  from  the  con- 
flicting interests  of  the  different  forms  of  life. 
Increase  being  at  a  rapid  geometric  rate  —  2, 
4,  8,  i6,  32,  etc. —  it  is  obviously  impossible 
for  all  to  find  food,  so  there  ensues  a  strenuous 
competition  in  which  the  weaker  starve  or  be- 
come food  for  others.  A  fourth  principle,  the 
survival  of  the  fittest,  naturally  follows.  The 
strong,  the  swift,  the  cunning,  the  capable  that 
arise  out  of  the  chaotic  conflict  stand  forth  as 
higher  creations  to  enjoy  for  a  brief  time  the 
fruits  of  their  victory,  until  the  rising  tide  of 
competition  in  turn  overwhelms  them.  Nature's 
apparent  aim  is  fulfilled  in  the  survival  of  the 
fittest,  in  a  progressive  series.  The  losers  — 
the  unfit  —  are  forced  backward  toward  obliv- 
ion, perhaps  to  attain  a  degree  of  usefulness 
in  becoming  food  for  their  betters. 

2.  Early  Stages  of  Evolution 

In  accordance  with  these  principles  the  biol- 
ogist pictures  world  history  for  us  in  somewhat 


Social  Environment 


the  following  guise.  The  first  forms  of  life  to 
emerge  from  the  inanimate  were  simple  vege- 
table types.  The  peculiarity  of  the  vegetable 
world  is  that  it  has  the  power  to  take  the  in- 
organic elements  of  nature  and  convert  them 
into  its  own  substance ;  that  is,  it  sturdily  makes 
its  own  living  by  elaborating  its  tissues  from 
the  raw  material  of  inanimate  nature.  The 
animal  world  emerged  from  the  vegetable  when 
in  the  competition  for  a  livelihood  some  of  the 
primitive  forms  discovered  a  convenient  short 
cut  to  success  in  preying  upon  their  kin.  The 
animal  world  is,  therefore,  secondary  to  the 
vegetable  world,  living  as  it  does  by  the  devour- 
ing of  the  latter;  and  in  the  ascending  circles 
of  its  evolution  it  never  returns  to  a  grubbing 
in  the  elements  for  a  living,  but  remains  the 
higher  exploitive  caste  of  the  life  series. 

To  unmoral  nature  the  path  of  least  resist- 
ance in  the  most  paying  aggression  is  ever  the 
highway  of  evolutionary  progress.  To  replen- 
ish the  earth  and  subdue  it  to  its  own  uses  was 
the  original  commission  written  into  the  living 
tablets  of  all  flesh.  So  it  proved  that  animal 
life,  rising  through  its  successful  conquest  of 
the  vegetable,  developed  differing  forms  that 
fell  upon  each  other  in  fierce  competition,  and 


Biological  Point  of  View 


built  up  out  of  their  prolonged  rivalries  the 
complex  series  of  the  animal  kingdom.  In 
response  to  the  demands  of  the  struggle  came 
swifter  fins  and  feet,  more  powerful  jaws,  and 
more  capacious  stomachs.  Each  weapon  of 
attack  was  met  by  a  new  defense,  giving  rise 
to  a  formidable  series  of  scales,  shells,  and 
other  armor  plate,  until  the  possibilities  seem 
to  have  been  exhausted,  and  the  future  passed 
into  the  control  of  more  enterprising  types  that 
challenged  the  risks  of  active  life  in  the  open. 

J.  Life  on  the  Land 

Just  how  animal  life  emerged  from  its  origi- 
nal watery  habitat  to  the  free  air  of  the  land 
we  do  not  know,  but  we  may  imagine  on  the 
basis  of  remaining  transition  forms  that,  like 
migrants  thrown  by  social  forces  from  an  old 
world  to  a  new,  the  teeming  sea  threw  out  its 
adventurers  until  they  established  themselves 
in  the  new  environment.  The  evolution  of 
land  life  once  well  begun,  there  developed  with 
increasing  speed  two  tendencies  previously 
started.  One  of  these  was  the  development  of 
the  brain  as  an  instrument  of  survival,  and  the 
other  was  the  pooling  of  interests  in  the  form- 
ing of  groups  for  mutual  protection  and  attack. 


8  Social  Enmronment 

The  first  of  these  tendencies  aided  in  the  reduc- 
tion of  mere  bulk.  For  a  time  nature  had  spe- 
cialized in  giant  sauropods  and  dinosaurs,  great 
masses  of  armored  flesh,  but  lacking  in  wits. 
Less  pretentious  creatures,  acquiring  that  cun- 
ning which  was  the  outward  expression  of  the 
developing  brain,  or  in  other  ways  becoming 
better  adapted  to  a  changing  environment, 
gradually  surpassed  their  bulky  competitors. 
The  second  tendency  —  that  toward  coopera- 
tion—  was  a  secondary  result  of  the  improve- 
ment in  brains,  or  perhaps  some  would  prefer 
to  call  it  the  cause  of  that  improvement.  Some 
of  the  early  experiments,  however,  failed  by 
too  complete  success.  The  communistic  socie- 
ties of  the  bees  and  ants  attained  a  practical 
perfection  in  cooperation,  but,  lacking  a  pro- 
gressive force,  they  continued  on  the  same  plane 
as  an  example  of  arrested  development. 

Among  the  higher  animals  cooperation  as- 
sumed a  freer  and  looser  form.  The  beasts 
of  the  field  learned  to  take  advantage  of  the 
herd  as  a  means  of  protection,  and  the  carniv- 
orous animals  discovering  the  advantages  that 
lay  in  cooperative  hunting  became  used  to  the 
law  of  the  pack.  For  both  these  reasons  the 
primitive  half-man  who  roamed  the   forests 


Biological  Point  of  View 


and  sought  the  shelter  of  the  mountain  caves 
came  to  value  his  horde.  It  was  within  the 
shelter  of  the  earliest  cooperative  efforts  that 
there  arose  the  social  impulses  and  traditions 
on  which  the  teamwork  of  human  society 
depends.  But  we  are  told  to  be  on  our  guard 
against  that  sentimental  appreciation  of  mutual 
aid  which  regards  it  as  the  opposite  of  the 
struggle  for  survival.  Whatever  may  be  the 
hope  for  the  future,  yet  the  records  of  the  past 
indicate  that  cooperation  was  merely  a  prelimi- 
nary to  a  greatly  intensified  systematic  struggle 
for  existence  and  supremacy. 

4.    The  Beginnings  of  Human  Society 

Accustomed  as  we  are  to  the  conventional 
regulation  of  the  biological  elements  of  our 
nature,  we  ordinarily  fail  to  appreciate  the  part 
they  play  in  history.  Glossing  over  the  preda- 
tory activities  of  man  with  the  glamour  of  ro- 
manticism, we  are  in  danger  of  losing  sight  of 
their  real  significance.  Students  of  social  evo- 
lution have,  however,  brushed  aside  the  masks 
under  which  man  has  hidden  the  wolfish  aspects 
of  his  nature,  and  the  story  of  human  history 
that  they  have  written  forms  one  chapter  with 
that  of  the  biologist.    As  already  stated,  they 


lo  Social  Emnronment 

may  be  charged  with  having  slighted  the  spir- 
itual forces  of  history,  but  we  will  here  briefly 
summarize  their  story  as  they  have  told  it, 
reserving  to  a  later  chapter  a  statement  of  the 
psychological  aspects. 

The  evolution  of  human  society  began  long 
before  the  dawn  of  authentic  history,  but  the 
general  outlines  of  the  story  may  be  seen 
through  the  dim  light  of  archaeology  and  tra- 
dition. At  first,  as  man  learned  to  adapt  him- 
self artificially  to  the  hardships  of  varying 
climates,  he  gradually  spread  over  the  habitable 
parts  of  the  globe.  In  this  era  his  conflicts 
were  mainly  with  the  wild  animals,  though 
when  strange  tribes  chanced  to  meet  war  would 
likely  result.  Often  in  such  conflicts  men 
hunted  and  ate  the  stranger  as  they  hunted  and 
ate  wild  game.  The  first  weapons  to  be  used 
were  those  lying  nearest  at  hand,  such  as  the 
stone  and  the  club.  With  these  weapons  the 
early  cave  men  crushed  each  other's  skulls,  as 
the  remains  found  under  the  glacial  drift  tes- 
tify.  But  natural  selection  was  obviously  more 
a  matter  of  group  -^fiiciency  than  of  mere 
individual  superiority.  The  qualities  of  invent- 
iveness, subordination  to  leadership,  and  con- 
formity to  custom  came  to  have  the  utmost 


Biological  Point  of  View  ii 

importance.  Out  of  the  demand  for  a  means 
of  enforcing  the  interests  of  the  group  arose 
in  part  the  fictions  of  primitive  religions,  which 
admirably  served  the  purpose  of  restraining 
the  quarrelsome  and  the  wayward  by  fear  of 
spirit  agencies  and  by  posthumous  rewards  and 
punishments. 

The  transition  from  the  simple  tribal  so- 
ciety of  kinship  groups  to  the  larger  civil 
society  of  complex  class  organization  is  cited 
as  a  typical  example  of  the  unmoral  methods 
of  nature.  Faced  with  the  necessity  for  larger 
organization,  man's  feeble  intellect  was  wholly 
inadequate  to  the  demands  that  new  conditions 
imposed.  Consequently  the  more  complex  so- 
ciety was  attained  only  through  the  play  of  the 
most  brutal  instincts.  At  the  time  of  the  tran- 
sition the  arts  of  living  had  materially  devel- 
oped, the  soil  was  by  some  tribes  successfully 
cultivated,  and  wealth  was  being  accumulated 
in  the  form  of  herds  and  flocks.  Following 
nature's  pathway  of  the  most  successful  aggres- 
sion, the  horsemen  herding  their  cattle  discov- 
ered the  short  cut  to  prosperity  that  lay  in 
attacking  their  neighbors.  The  conditions  in- 
viting such  attacks  were,  of  course,  the  rapidity 
of  movement  acquired  through  horsemanship. 


12  Social  Environment 

and  the  ease  with  which  the  booty  in  the  shape 
of  the  stolen  cattle  could  be  removed  —  con- 
ditions that  had  hitherto  been  lacking.  Out  of 
such  activities  grew  from  the  first  a  degree  of 
organization,  for  in  preying  upon  each  other 
leadership  centered  in  the  most  daring  and  suc- 
cessful robber  chief  who,  as  he  increased  in 
wisdom  and  cattle,  advanced  from  patriarch 
of  his  polygamous  family  to  ruler  of  a  consid- 
erable kingdom.  To  him  as  the  "fittest"  in 
nature's  sense  belonged  the  choicest  of  the 
stolen  property  and  the  fairest  of  the  female 
captives,  and  his  breed  multiplied  and  replaced 
less  efficient  breeds.  The  mastery  thus  ac- 
quired by  the  warrior  had  a  disastrous  result 
on  the  social  status  of  woman.  From  a  posi- 
tion of  relative  equality  or  even  of  superiority 
that  she  had  held  under  the  sway  of  instinctive 
family  customs,  she  was  thrown  into  the  status 
of  inferiority  or  virtual  slavery  that  she  has 
occupied  during  most  of  the  historic  period. 

The  enterprising  raids  of  the  cattle  thieves 
soon  brought  the  rude  valley  farms  into  their 
spheres  of  influence.  Here  inviting  spoils  were 
to  be  found,  for  the  agriculturalists  had 
adopted  a  somewhat  premature  peace  policy; 
not,  it  is  to  be  feared,  from  any  surplus  of 


Biological  Point  of  View  13 


idealism,  but  because  in  their  situation  robbery 
had  not  appeared  to  afford  a  good  business 
opening.     Their  rash  faith  in  the  kindly  inten- 
tions of  Providence  was  punished  by  repeated 
raids  on  the  part  of  the  horsemen  from  the 
distant  plains,  who  dashed  upon  the  weaklings 
and  plundered  at  will,  murdering  the  men,  en- 
slaving the  women,  and  seizing  the  property  as 
a  war  indemnity.     But  the  decisive  step  in  the 
evolution  of  the  larger  organization  of  society 
was  not  reached  until  the  conquerors  became 
tired  of  the  heavy  work  of  carting  off  the  plun- 
der ana  began  to  settle  among  the  conquered. 
In  this  act  the  foundation  was  laid  of  national 
organization  as  it  is  known  to  history.     The 
conquerors,  installed  as  the  primitive  aristoc- 
racy, lived  in  fortified  homes  with  their  retinue 
of  warlike  followers,  where  they  enjoyed   a 
rude  luxury  based  upon  the  tolls  collected  from 
the  serfs.     In  many  an  unsuccessful  struggle 
the  serfs  attempted  to  regain  their  freedom, 
but  eventually  they  became  broken  in  to  the 
yoke.    At  last  they  even  acquiesced  in  the  situ- 
ation, for,  though  they  were  obliged  to  pay  as 
tribute  all  the  results  of  their  labor  above  what 
was  absolutely  necessary  to  keep  them  alive, 
yet  they  were  at  least  protected   from  other 


14  Social  Environment 

plunderers.  Whenever  they  were  threatened 
by  the  warlike  chiefs  of  the  plains  they  might 
appeal  to  their  overlord  for  protection,  and  the 
valor  that  secured  their  safety  eventually  awa- 
kened some  measure  of  gratitude.  So  in  time 
the  relation  that  had  begun  with  brutality  grew 
into  a  somewhat  tolerable  reciprocity. 

Glancing  ahead  to  the  end  of  the  story,  we 
may  observe  that  such  a  relation  between  lord 
and  serf  is  looked  upon  as  essentially  the  mod- 
ern state  in  embryo,  being  the  primary  form 
of  property-owner  and  toiler.  For,  though 
organization  becomes  more  complex,  individ- 
uals change,  and  the  rivalries  of  business  sup- 
plant in  some  measure  the  competition  of  war, 
there  is  a  kind  of  apostolic  succession  to  be 
discerned  running  on  the  one  hand  through 
cattle  chieftain,  baron,  landlord,  and  money 
king,  and  on  the  other  hand  through  slave, 
serf,  peasant,  and  factory  hand.  Kipling,  with 
his  usual  insight  into  the  ways  of  empire,  has 
put  the  matter  tersely  in  the  following  lines, 
where  he  speaks  for  the  toilers : 

We  have  fed  you  all  for  a  thousand  years, 

For  that  was  our  doom,  you  know, 
From  the  days  when  you  chained  us  in  your  fields 

To  the  strike  of  a  week  ago. 


Biological  Point  of  View  15 


And  undoubtedly  he  would  find  historic  rea- 
sons to  support  a  hurry-up  call  for  troops  to 
quell  the  strike. 

Though  the  foundations  of  modern  civili- 
zation were  principally  laid  by  the  activities  of 
horsemen  in  some  such  way  as  described,  yet 
diverse  conditions  produced  many  versions 
of  the  tale.  Along  the  rivers  and  the  ocean 
shores,  for  example,  the  invention  and  im- 
provement of  boats  furnished  a  mobility  cor- 
responding to  that  of  the  horseman  on  land. 
The  life  of  the  pirate  soon  became  profitable 
and  therefore  highly  respectable.  In  their  boats 
the  sea  kings  would  embark  to  fall  suddenly 
upon  some  inoffensive  settlement,  where  they 
would  work  their  ruthless  will.  Such  hardy 
qualities  of  initiative  and  enterprise  we  are 
often  urged  to  hold  in  high  respect,  and  it  must 
be  admitted  that  some  of  the  proudest  nations 
of  today  got  their  start  in  these  activities.  Cer- 
tainly, it  seems  as  if  nature  in  accordance  with 
her  ancient  policy  stamped  the  aggressive  and 
successful  with  the  seal  of  her  approval. 

5.   The  Consolidation  of  Society 

The  primary  organization  of  lords  and  serfs 
proved  to  be  m,erely  the  beginning  of  a  stirring 


i6  Social  Environment 

struggle  of  groups  out  of  which  were  to  grow 
greater  nations  and  empires.  In  fact,  no  sooner 
had  the  lords  of  the  sword  settled  themselves 
upon  their  subjects  than  they  began  to  plan 
attacks  upon  their  neighbors.  Having  little  to 
do  with  the  common  labor  of  life  except  to  con- 
sume the  fruits  of  it,  they  were  left  free  to 
devote  their  whole  attention  to  the  pursuit  of 
arms.  So  developed  the  knightly  character, 
fierce,  ambitious,  and  war-loving,  yet  often 
generous  and  romantic,  and  often  the  patron 
of  the  early  arts  and  sciences. 

The  story  of  the  consolidation  of  nations 
and  empires  through  the  process  of  conquest 
and  reconquest  is  a  long  one,  and  need  not  be 
dwelt  upon  here.  It  was  natural  that  the  war 
game  should  produce  its  leaders  of  superior 
ability  who  learned  to  combine  large  areas 
under  their  sway.  The  stronger  the  war  lord 
waxed,  the  more  he  reached  out  for  new  con- 
quests to  add  to  his  dominions  and  to  furnish 
added  revenues;  for,  through  it  all,  the  well- 
known  maxim  seems  to  have  been  observed, 
that  to  the  victor  belong  the  spoils.  Admin- 
istration gradually  evolved,  however,  through 
the  pressure  of  expediency  into  a  somewhat 
orderly  and  logical  system,  though  it  must  be 


Biological  Point  of  View  17 

confessed  that  the  logic  of  the  system  was  not 
nearly  so  plain  to  the  dull  minds  of  the  peas- 
antry as  it  was  to  the  acute  and  trained  minds 
of  the  lawyers  versed  in  the  traditions  of  the 
conquerors.  ]\Iany  were  the  related  systems  so 
developed  —  Egyptian,  Babylonian,  Assyrian, 
Greek,  and  Roman.  To  the  militaristic,  com- 
mercial civilization  of  the  Romans,  so  expert 
in  the  centralization  of  power  and  wealth,  is 
given  the  credit  for  bequeathing  to  modern 
Europe  the  fundamentals  of  the  system  of  jus- 
tice it  now  enjoys.  It  may  be  worth  while  to 
observe  that  as  a  result  of  the  obtuseness  of 
the  peasants  to  the  philosophies  of  their  lords, 
they  came  to  be  looked  down  upon  as  a  lower 
species,  fundamentally  lacking  in  initiative, 
enterprise,  and  wit. 

6.  Present-day  Society 

Because  of  the  greatly  increased  production 
of  wealth  in  modern  times,  we  are  apt  to  con- 
clude superficially  that  now  at  least  the  biologi- 
cal factors  as  seen  in  evolution  and  history 
have  spent  themselves  as  ruling  forces.  But 
the  evolutionist  again  insists  that  we  face  the 
unpleasant  facts.  The  modern  era  has  seen 
a  blossoming  of  feudalism  into  empires  of  busi- 


1 8  Social  Environment 

ness  with  great  changes  in  the  material  condi- 
tions of  Hfe,  yet  with  no  very  revolutionary 
changes,  after  all,  in  motives  and  principles. 
Slavery  and  serfdom  have  disappeared,  it  is 
true,  but  they  have  disappeared  partly  because 
they  were  less  profitable  than  the  wage  system 
that  supplanted  them.  Feudal  property,  on 
which  the  aristocracies  of  former  times  rested, 
has  been  transformed  into  the  specialized  in- 
dustrial equipment  of  land  and  machinery  now 
covered  by  the  general  term  capital;  but  in  its 
new  form  it  still  continues  practically  the  same 
relative  distribution  of  wealth  and  power,  and 
still  supports  wasteful  luxury  out  of  under- 
paid toil. 

Equality  before  the  law  has  in  a  measure 
been  attained,  but  as  a  result  the  worker  has 
lost  the  slight  refuge  of  status  that  once  was 
his,  and  in  practice  the  right  of  the  weak  to 
compete  on  equal  terms  with  his  betters  has 
not  proved  wholly  a  blessing.  Political  democ- 
racy has  bestowed  an  influence  in  government 
upon  the  masses,  but  at  the  same  time  busi- 
ness has  grown  into  a  new  feudalism,  with 
hereditary  privileged  classes,  that  practically 
dictates  the  conditions  of  working  life.  Rapid 
communication  has  brought  the  nations  closer 


'Biological  Point  of  View  19 

together  to  the  great  advantage  of  trade,  but 
it  has  also  aggravated  rivalries  and  produced 
an  intense  militarism,  backed  by  scientific  in- 
vention, which  renders  insignificant  the  petty- 
conflicts  of  the  past.  On  the  whole,  if  compe- 
tition and  the  resulting  destruction  of  the  un- 
wary is  the  law  of  progress,  as  the  Darwinists 
would  have  us  believe,  then  in  view  of  present- 
day  rivalries,  exploitation,  industrial  strife,  and 
world  war  the  biological  millennium  should  be 
not  far  away. 

Such  in  brief  is  the  unlovely  story  of  the 
past  that  materialistic  science,  with  its  passion 
for  demonstrable  facts,  has  revealed.  It  is  a 
story  of  man's  animal  origin,  of  his  brute  na- 
ture, of  his  cupidity,  lust,  cunning,  and  hypoc- 
risy. But,  as  was  suggested  at  the  outset,  it  is 
a  story  that  has  another  side.  From  that 
human  nature  which  is  of  the  earth,  earthy, 
where  the  natural  impulse  of  blind  aggression 
rules,  there  has  blossomed  a  higher  nature  ca- 
pable of  appreciating  universal  aesthetic  and 
moral  ideas.  This  spiritual  nature  challenges 
the  supremacy  of  the  animal  nature,  and  strives 
to  impose  limit  and  form  on  the  tide  of  primi- 
tive passions  that  express  themselves  in  social 
life.    Indeed,  a  more  intimate  study  of  history 


20  Social  Environment 


will  show  that  in  spite  of  the  storms  of  animal 
passion  it  is  in  reality  the  quiet,  creative  influ- 
ences of  the  spiritual  virtues,  such  as  love, 
loyalty,  and  truth,  that  have  made  possible  the 
wonderful  but  restless  civilization  of  today. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  THEORY  OF  EVOLUTION 

THE  theory  of  evolution  has  served  the  pur- 
pose of  interpreting  for  us  the  material- 
istic side  of  modern  society,  but  we  may  gain 
further  light  if  we  reverse  the  usual  order  of 
inquiry  and  look  for  the  social  influences  which 
prompted  the  development  of  the  theory  Itself. 
Perhaps  we  may  be  able  to  discover  why  it  is 
that  modern  science  has  stressed  so  strongly 
the  biological  aspects  of  human  nature  and  so 
neglected  the  psychological,  or  spiritual. 

7.  Background  in  English  History 

Our  inquiry  introduces  us  first  to  England 
of  the  dawning  modern  age,  the  social  condi- 
tions of  which  we  shall  attempt  to  sketch 
briefly.  At  the  time  in  question  we  see  feu- 
dalism retreating  in  the  background,  like  shad- 
ows before  a  light.  The  feudal  system  was  in 
essence  comparatively  simple,  being  the  ex- 
panded organization  of  war  chief  and  despoiled 
serf  after  the  friction  of  experience  had  worn 
the  harsh  exploitation  of  the  original  conquest 

21 


22  Social  Environment 

into  something  of  a  conventional  routine.  The 
system  rested  ultimately  on  the  divine  right  of 
the  battle  axe,  but  was  materially  bulwarked 
by  the  political  activities  of  religion,  with  its 
powerful  appeal  to  the  rewards  and  punish- 
ments of  a  future  world. 

The  feudal  game  had  somewhat  lost  its  zest 
and  was  not  absorbing  the  whole  of  the  grow- 
ing energies  of  the  people,  so  beneath  the  ques- 
tionable shelter  of  a  monarch  and  a  nobility, 
business  began  to  germinate  and  put  forth 
shoots.  Meanwhile  the  barons  were  eliminat- 
ing themselves  by  their  fierce  rivalries,  and 
business  further  expanded  until  it  began  to 
press  against  the  property  interests  of  the 
church,  which  had  come  into  possession  of  a 
large  share  of  the  best  farming  lands.  Busi- 
ness now  showed  evidence  of  a  conscience 
which  was  peculiarly  sensitive  to  all  moral 
lapses  occurring  among  the  churchmen  admin- 
istering the  ecclesiastical  estates,  the  upshot  of 
which  was  that  the  estates  changed  hands. 
Decorating  themselves  with  the  titles  of  the 
fallen  or  deposed  nobles,  the  merchants  came 
into  possession  of  the  monastic  property,  and 
assumed  that  position  of  importance  to  which 
Providence  seemed  to  be  calling  them.     Their 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  23 


disapproval  of  the  authoritative  religion  they' 
had  disciplined  was  further  expressed  in  the 
adoption  of  creeds  wherein  each  soul  made  his 
own  contract  with  heaven,  and  in  which  the 
individualistic  point  of  view  was  consistently- 
held. 

It  should,  perhaps,  be  observed  that  the 
phase  of  business  which  formed  the  cutting 
edge  of  the  forces  breaking  up  the  old  order 
was  the  commercial  rather  than  the  productive, 
and  it  is  consequently  the  commercial  point  of 
view  which  gives  shape  to  the  newly  develop- 
ing social  relations.  Now,  in  commerce  the 
contracting  parties  met  in  the  theoretical  equal- 
ity of  the  market  place  and  haggled  competi- 
tively for  the  best  bargain  they  could  severally 
secure.  Trade  thus  assumed  as  fundamental 
principles  the  whole-hearted  pursuit  of  indi- 
vidualistic interests,  the  right  to  the  possession 
of  all  the  property  that  one  could  produce  or 
acquire  through  contract,  and  the  equality  of 
all  men  as  free  agents  in  bargaining.  Practi- 
cally, this  equality  worked  out  much  like  pitting 
against  each  other  in  a  tournament  contest- 
ants who  actually  were  very  unequal;  when 
forced  upon  those  who  were  not  assertive  in 
bargaining  it  resulted  little  to  their  advantage. 


24  Social  Environment 

Particularly  to  the  serf,  who  must  fight  with- 
out the  weapon  of  property,  did  it  prove  a  ques- 
tionable blessing.  Under  feudalism  he  had,  of 
course,  been  exploited,  but  he  had  at  least  been 
somewhat  secure  in  his  humble  position;  now, 
as  the  commercial  point  of  view  came  to  pre- 
vail among  the  upper  classes  he  was  urged 
from  his  attachment  to  the  soil  into  the  pre- 
carious, if  bracing,  atmosphere  of  freedom. 
When  wage  conditions  were  unusually  good  he 
required  only  the  urging  of  his  own  interests; 
at  other  times  he  was  driven  forcibly  from  his 
humble  cottage  on  the  manorial  estate  into  vag- 
abondage by  the  superior  competition  of  the 
sheep-raising  industry,  which  did  not  require 
so  many  laborers  as  did  agriculture.  Thus 
developed  that  individual  freedom  in  commer- 
cial competition  which  later  times  have  so  ex- 
cessively glorified  as  the  foundation  principle 
of  justice  —  a  principle  which  in  the  concrete 
spelled  unrestricted  wealth  to  noble  and  mer- 
chant, but  starvation  or  crime  to  multitudes  of 
the  dispossessed  peasants. 

2.   The  Industrial  Revolution 

The  evolution  of  business  was  a  slow  mat- 
ter   involving    many    revolutionary    political 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  25 


changes  and  much  foreign  conflict.  The  mer- 
chant class,  strengthening  their  hold  on  gov- 
ernment, made  of  the  Tudors  efficient  tools, 
but  had  to  fight  the  reactionary  and  despotic 
Stuarts.  At  length  a  new  dynasty  was  im- 
ported on  the  basis  of  a  written  contract,  and 
under  the  nominal  rule  of  the  new  monarchs 
business  found  freedom  to  expand  its  foreign 
trade  into  all  parts  of  the  world.  But  the 
greatest  step  in  the  rise  of  business,  and  the 
business  point  of  view  of  individual  competi- 
tion, came  with  the  phenomenal  development 
of  machinery  a  century  and  a  half  ago.  The 
increasing  demand  for  goods  to  supply  foreign 
markets  suggested  to  some  unimportant  me- 
chanics certain  improvements  in  their  tools. 
In  rapid  succession  came  the  series  of  inven- 
tions that  are  comprised  under  the  name  of  the 
factory  system.  Then  suddenly  there  arose 
before  the  dazzled  eyes  of  business  leaders 
alluring  visions  of  wealth,  and  with  the  spirit 
of  their  freebooter  ancestors  they  clutched 
eagerly  after  it. 

Meanwhile  the  serfs  —  such,  at  least,  as  had 
survived  the  blessings  of  their  new  freedom — > 
had  succeeded  to  a  considerable  extent  in  estab- 
lishing themselves  with  the  village  and  town 


26  Social  Environment 

populations  in  the  textile  industries,  working 
in  their  own  homes  at  their  handicraft  occu- 
pations. A  measure  of  prosperity,  or  at  least 
of  stability,  had  come  to  them  when,  crashing 
through  their  humble  markets,  came  the  tor- 
nado of  the  factory.  Competition  with  the 
machine  was  useless,  so  after  a  few  outbursts 
of  irrational  temper  they  begged  employment 
from  their  new  lords.  As  to  what  followed, 
we  may  well  pass  over  the  details  in  silence  — 
the  poverty,  the  degradation,  the  women  toil- 
ing under  the  lash,  the  children  consumed  in 
the  process  of  cotton  manufacture.  We  can 
at  any  rate  comfort  ourselves  with  the  assur- 
ance that  the  victims  were  free  to  enter  into 
such  contracts  as  they  thought  best. 

As  the  anticipated  profits  came  in,  the  manu- 
facturers and  related  commercial  classes  be- 
came rich  beyond  all  previously  known  limits. 
Naturally,  with  such  boundless  prosperity  they 
acquired  a  due  sense  of  importance  that  re- 
sented any  interference  with  their  business 
freedom.  What  warrant,  they  asked,  had  a 
mere  government  to  interfere  with  their  sacred 
liberties?  for  the  nation  under  the  control  of 
its  older  aristocracy  was  attempting  from  the 
force  of  habit  to  keep  up  a  semblance  of  sys- 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  2y 

tem.  Their  discontent  with  governmental  reg- 
ulation came  to  a  head  in  the  campaign  against 
the  established  poor-laws.  It  appears  that  Eng- 
land was,  in  a  measure,  relieving  the  wants  of 
her  innumerable  beggars,  but  the  unwisely  ad- 
ministered charity  had  the  effect  of  interfering 
with  dividends,  since  it  eased  the  harsh  condi- 
tions that  served  as  a  spur  to  labor  in  the  hated 
factories.  As  a  result  of  the  campaign  of  the 
factory  lords,  charity  was  eventually  curtailed, 
though  some  concessions  had  to  be  made  to  the 
combined  forces  of  custom  and  sentiment. 
From  the  first  of  the  controversy,  however,  the 
apologists  of  the  business  leaders  felt  the  need 
of  a  philosophy  that  should  forcibly  represent 
charity  as  an  evil  —  a  need  that  presently  was 
supplied,  as  we  shall  see. 

In  America,  the  same  point  of  view  as  to 
business  liberty  and  the  breaking  of  the  restric- 
tions of  government  came  to  prevail.  With 
the  active  sympathy  of  the  new  business  classes 
of  England,  a  revolution  was  fought  to  escape 
the  regulations  that  the  imperial  government 
imposed.  The  American  farmers,  who  had 
little  stake  in  the  cpuarrel,  bore  the  brunt  of  the 
conflict,  and  through  their  sacrifices  the  new 
gospel  of  free  competition  was  set  up  in  un- 


28  Social  Environment 

mistakable  terms.  The  declaration  of  human 
equality  and  the  rights  to  life,  liberty,  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness — more  explicitly  rendered 
in  later  versions  as  the  pursuit  of  property 
—  was  the  epitome  of  the  newer  commer- 
cialism. It,  of  course,  contemplated  no  real 
check  upon  existing  aristocracy  so  far  as  it  was 
based  upon  property,  though  in  a  new  country 
with  plenty  of  cheap  land  it  did  offer  the  poor 
a  chance  to  climb  into  that  aristocracy  during 
the  process  of  the  country's  growth  to  matu- 
rity—  an  opportunity  that  has  been  enthusias- 
tically embraced. 

5.  Laissez  Faire 

The  social  philosophy  thus  developing  in 
England  and  America,  and,  in  fact,  wherever 
the  influence  of  the  industrial  revolution  was 
spreading,  is  generally  referred  to  as  the  doc- 
trine of  laissez  faire.  According  to  this  doc- 
trine the  function  of  government  was  to  be 
little  more  than  the  keeping  of  the  peace,  while 
in  the  industrial  processes  people  freely  com- 
peted for  power  in  the  form  of  property.  Thus 
civil  government,  though  theoretically  retain- 
ing sovereignty,  was  to  be  pushed  aside  in 
favor  of  capital  as  the  social  directive  agency. 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  29 

More  concretely,  power  was  to  pass  from  the 
hands  of  estabhshed  aristocracies,  then  con- 
trolling government,  into  the  hands  of  the  new 
business  classes  rising  to  positions  of  influence 
in  the  industrial  world  on  the  basis  of  the  cap- 
italistic manufacturing  system,  and  it  was  nat- 
urally these  classes  that  inspired  the  theory. 
Of  course,  as  it  turned  out,  the  laisse::-faire 
theory  in  its  extreme  form  proved  so  unjust  to 
the  masses  that  its  harshness  was  tempered  by 
the  enactment  of  factory  acts  and  other  regu- 
lative legislation;  yet,  in  spite  of  its  announced 
abandonment,  its  deadening  influence  still  lies 
heavy  upon  western  civilization,  bulwarking 
the  irresponsibility  of  wealth,  fostering  the 
intense  absorption  in  money-getting,  and  pre- 
venting the  proper  consideration  of  wise  meas- 
ures designed  to  foster  public  interests  through 
a  closer-knit  social  organization. 

The  discovery  of  evolution,  with  its  empha- 
sis on  competition  and  the  survival  of  the 
fittest,  came  directly  out  of  the  laissez-faire 
conditions  just  sketched,  and  was  related  to  the 
endeavor  to  justify  the  prevailing  struggle  for 
property.  It  would,  of  course,  be  ridiculous 
to  say  that  the  scientists  who  worked  out  the 
evolutionary  hypothesis  were  consciously  ani- 


30  Social  Environment 

mated  by  an  endeavor  to  justify  the  newly 
established  social  system  of  which  they  were  a 
part.  But  it  can  be  shown  that  the  impetus  to 
some  of  their  best  work  came  originally  from 
such  an  endeavor,  and  in  addition  it  was  un- 
avoidable that  the  spirit  of  their  age  should 
somewhat  enter  into  their  interpretation  of 
newly  discovered  data.  The  rise  of  capitalism 
with  the  industrial  revolution  created  tidal 
waves  in  the  world  of  philosophic  thought  —  a 
world  which,  though  bounded  on  the  one  side 
by  fundamental  ideals,  is  yet  on  the  other  side 
intimately  in  touch  with  social  reality.  The 
new  forces,  tearing  apart  the  social  fabric  and 
building  on  the  basis  of  existing  world  trade 
an  empire  of  capital,  appealed  to  the  imagina- 
tion and  demanded  justification.  In  particu- 
lar, there  was  honor  and  preferment  for  the 
thinker  who  could  interpret  the  trend  of  the 
times  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  powerful  rising 
classes.  In  response  to  the  demand  arose  new 
schools  of  thought. 

In  the  sphere  of  economic  interpretation  the 
names  of  Adam  Smith  and  Ricardo  stand  out 
most  prominently.  Though  the  former,  be- 
cause of  the  priority  of  his  work  and  the 
humanitarian   spirit   which   it   embodies,   has 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  31 

gained  a  wider  fame,  yet  it  is  in  reality  Ricardo 
who  stated  the  economics  of  capitalism  with 
the  clearest  vision.  He,  too,  affected  a  human- 
itarian outlook,  yet  he  did  not  allow  this  out- 
look to  interfere  with  the  machinelike  logic 
with  which  he  depicted  the  struggle  of  the 
market  as  the  soul  of  the  new  social  organi- 
zation. Whether  or  not  he  believed  there  was 
any  higher  ideal  vouchsafed  to  the  soul  of  man 
than  the  pursuit  of  power  in  the  form  of  prop- 
erty, the  result  of  his  analysis  of  capitalism 
was  to  set  it  up  as  an  embodiment  of  justice 
demanding  the  homage  of  all  men.  Though 
his  economics  have  been  amended  somewhat 
in  their  descriptive  aspect,  and  amended  mark- 
edly in  their  social  implications,  yet  they  still 
stand  as  the  classic  exposition  of  capitalism. 

Here  we  see  pictured  society  as  an  aggre- 
gate of  warring  economic  units,  each  free  and 
equal  unit  engaged  in  the  complexity  of  pur- 
suits that  make  up  the  modern  industrial 
process,  and  each  intent  on  getting  the  most 
for  himself.  In  the  market  the  opposing  forces 
of  individual  economic  aggression  are  meas- 
ured, and  each  unit  gets  all  the  returns  he  can 
for  his  land,  capital,  or  labor.  In  the  conflict 
of  bargaining,  the  contestant  armed  with  prop- 


32  Social  Environment 

erty  might  ride  down  the  propertyless  like  a 
giant  fighting  among  pygmies;  no  matter, 
there  had  been  discovered  in  the  balance  of 
forces  the  operation  of  a  universal  natural  law, 
the  law  of  supply  and  demand.  This  law,  it 
was  assumed,  presided  like  a  divinity  over  the 
struggle  and  insured  impartial  justice  to  all. 

It  was  the  discovery  of  the  universal  opera- 
tion of  the  law  of  supply  and  demand  under 
unchecked  capitalism  that  so  fascinated  the 
men  of  the  laissez-faire  epoch.  Recently 
liberated  from  the  rule  of  personal  authority 
in  church  and  state,  they  felt  the  inspiration 
of  what  appeared  to  be  a  new  justice  and  a 
new  freedom,  founded  on  immutable  principles 
instead  of  on  the  whims  of  personal  rulers. 
Henceforth  there  was  to  be  a  reign  of  law, 
not  a  reign  of  persons  or  classes.  So  fasci- 
nated with  their  beautiful  theory  were  they 
that  they  refused  to  see  the  concrete  facts  of 
the  tyrannical  rule  of  the  moneyed  classes  in 
the  factory. 

The  illusion  of  impartial  law  in  the  market 
was,  under  the  circumstances,  a  natural  and 
unavoidable  one.  Seen  in  perspective  after  a 
fuller  experience  with  laissez-faire  ideas,  we 
can  today  easily  point  out  its  fallacies.     On 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  33 


the  basis  of  the  accepted  natural  rights  that  the 
commercial  point  of  view  had  developed  —  of 
personal  liberty,  of  dependence  on  contract, 
of  the  pursuit  of  wealth,  of  unrestricted  prop- 
erty rights  —  there  must  necessarily  come 
about  a  balance  of  the  conflicting  economic 
forces,  with  a  resulting  setting  of  prices  and 
distribution  of  wealth.  As  a  mere  physical 
principle,  if  several  forces  acting  in  opposite 
directions  are  brought  into  play  in  the  same 
field,  they  must  necessarily  unify  into  one  defi- 
nite tendency.  So  in  the  market  the  bargain- 
ing aggression  of  each  individual  merges  into 
other  similar  forces  by  what  may  be  called  a 
natural  law;  though,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
natural  law  is  nothing  more  than  the  state- 
ment in  general  terms  of  the  result.  There  is 
evoked  no  transcendent  principle  to  safeguard 
justice  except  the  questionable  one  that  eco- 
nomic might  makes  right.  The  factory  lord, 
on  the  basis  of  commercial  contract,  exploited 
the  masses  of  a  century  ago  more  mercilessly 
than  had  his  predecessor  of  feudalism,  yet  he 
was  absolved  from  guilt  because  he  was  follow- 
ing a  natural  law  —  the  law,  forsooth,  that  a 
man  takes  all  the  gain  he  can  get.  And  to 
question  the  validity  of  the  natural  law  was 


34  Social  Environment 

held  to  be  as  foolish  as  questioning  the  law  of 
gravitation.  Feudal  conquest  may  be  defended 
on  the  same  grounds,  but  let  that  pass. 

Today,  the  very  fact  that  the  market  is  held 
to  be  controlled  by  natural  law  places  it  under 
suspicion,  for  it  is  now  seen  that  society  itself 
is    essentially    a   thwarting    and   molding   of 
natural  laws  into  harmony  with  social  ideals. 
Society  involves  the  supremacy  of  intelligence 
over  matter,  and  of  social  ideals  over  instincts. 
Hence,  the  modern  world  is  gradually  moving 
to  hedge  the  market  about  with  various  re- 
strictions which  serve  to  protect  the  economic 
weak  against  the  economic  strong.    Further,  it 
can  readily  be  seen  in  history  that  the  ideal  of 
justice  thought  to  have  been  discovered  in  the 
laissez-faire  philosophy  was  nothing  more  than 
a  revision  of  the  ancient  commercialism  that 
like  a  cancer  has  time  and  again  cut  into  the 
living  tissue  of  social  organization  to  build  its 
false  aristocracies.     It  was  the  commercialism 
symbolized  by  Baal  worship  that  awoke  the 
inspiring  protests  of  the  Hebrew  prophets;   it 
was  free  contract  under  a  landed  aristocracy 
that  was  destroying  the  early  Greeks,  until  wise 
legislation  diverted  the  social  energies  into  the 
channels  of  the  Periclean  age.    The  evils  grow- 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  35 

ing  out  of  the  gross  commercialism  of  later 
Rome  are  too  familiar  to  need  description.  It 
was  the  spirit  of  private  greed  more  than  the 
social  spirit  that  urged  the  laissez-faire  phi- 
losophy, lulling  men  into  the  belief  that  if 
each  served  Mammon  whole-heartedly  there 
would  emerge  a  natural  law  to  insure  justice. 
The  wish  of  the  economic  strong  was  the  father 
of  the  thought. 

4.  The  Theory  of  Malthus 

Though  the  economic  philosophy  exemplified 
in  Ricardo  served  as  a  satisfactory  defense  of 
commercialism,  the  spirit  of  inquiry  born  of 
the  stirring  life  of  a  new  era  sought  for  deeper 
foundations  and  a  more  comprehensive  knowl- 
edge of  life.  As  a  definite  incentive  to  thought 
there  existed  a  steady  market  for  ideas  tend- 
ing to  provide  a  further  sanction  for  the  new 
order  of  things.  So  thought  reached  beyond 
a  mere  descriptive  economics  into  historical 
and  biological  foundations.  In  so  doing  the 
motive  of  defending  commercialism  still  held, 
though  in  a  lessening  degree.  It  is  certain  that 
Malthus,  the  thinker  who  gave  to  economic 
apologetics  the  trend  toward  biology,  was  con- 
sciously seeking  to  combat  the  critics  of  com- 


36  Social  Environment 


mercialism.  And  it  is  his  book,  The  Principles 
of  Population,  antedating  by  a  few  years  the 
work  of  Ricardo,  that  serves  as  the  connecting 
link  between  the  economics  of  commercialism 
and  the  more  speculative  philosophy  culminat- 
ing in  the  evolutionary  theory.  Ricardo,  look- 
ing back  to  Malthus,  pictured  the  natural  law 
of  the  market;  a  generation  later,  Darwin, 
also  taking  his  cue  from  Malthus,  discovered 
a  like  natural  law  in  the  competitions  of  the 
lower  orders  of  life. 

The  central  idea  elaborated  by  Malthus  can 
be  briefly  stated.  His  objective  is  the  cause 
of  the  poverty  then  existing  in  England. 
Labor,  he  assumed,  is  a  commodity  that  finds 
its  true  valuation  in  the  market.  Therefore,  if 
labor  brings  less  than  a  living  wage,  the  remedy 
lies  in  diminishing  the  supply  by  restricting  the 
birth  rate.  The  workers  were  rearing  too  large 
families,  and  should  apply  prudential  restraints. 
Going  farther  afield,  Malthus  pointed  out  the 
geometrical  rate  of  increase  of  population  in 
the  face  of  limited  food  supply,  with  the  re- 
sulting keen  competition  and  elimination  of 
surplus  numbers,  and  in  so  doing  gave  to 
Darwin  the  suggestion  of  the  broader  idea  of 
the  survival  of  the  fittest.    The  reception  that 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  37 


was  given  to  Malthus'  work  by  the  defenders 
of  the  capitalistic  order  may  readily  be  under- 
stood. The  factory  lords  who  had  so  ruth- 
lessly subjected  the  working  population  to  their 
will  could  now  shift  to  the  Principle  of  Popu- 
lation all  the  responsibility  for  the  social 
tragedy  they  had  made  out  of  the  coming  of 
the  machine  age.  The  rate  of  reproduction 
of  the  poor  was  the  sole  cause  of  their  poverty. 
The  remarkable  continence  of  the  rich,  in  addi- 
tion to  their  conspicuous  abstinence  from  con- 
sumption, was  the  cause  of  their  riches. 

It  will  be  observed  that  Malthus,  like  many 
another  philosopher,  began  his  argument  by 
practically  assuming  that  which  he  wished  to 
prove.  A  professed  champion  of  commercial- 
ism, he  begins  by  assuming  the  unquestioned 
validity  of  the  market  as  a  standard  for  meas- 
uring even  the  family  life.  He  has,  of  course, 
pointed  out  much  that  is  true ;  the  connection 
between  a  natural  birth  rate  and  low  standards 
of  living  is  obvious.  But  why  the  birth  rate 
should  be  so  singled  out  from  the  many  char- 
acteristics of  the  low-standard  classes  is  not 
so  obvious.  And  that  any  degree  of  perma- 
nent social  betterment  could  be  attained  through 
the  preaching  of  a  low  birth  rate  while  the 


38  Social  Environment 

competition  of  the  market  remained  unchecked, 
is  still  more  questionable.  It  is  true  that  the 
propaganda  of  neo-Malthusianism  has  enabled 
families  to  rise  in  the  social  scale,  though,  un- 
fortunately, not  without  the  accompanying 
danger  of  a  degenerative  race  suicide.  But 
the  raising  of  any  considerable  mass  of  popu- 
lation has  proved  to  be  far  more  practicable 
through  legislation  checking  commercialism 
and  establishing  standards.  Given  improved 
standards  of  living  as  set,  for  example,  by 
factory  laws  and  compulsory  education,  and 
the  desired  restriction  of  population  readily 
follows,  just  as  other  marks  of  rational  living 
follow.  The  world  is  indebted  to  Malthus  for 
pointing  out  one  aspect  of  natural  law  that 
needs  wise  regulation  for  the  good  of  society, 
yet  he  failed  to  see  that  the  unrestricted  play 
of  individualistic  forces  in  the  market  is 
equally  as  dangerous  to  social  progress  as  the 
unrestricted  play  of  reproductive  forces. 

The  doctrines  of  Malthus  and  the  other 
laissez-faire  economists  proved  to  be  convin- 
cing and  logical  to  contemporaneous  England, 
particularly  to  the  rising  classes.  Indeed,  even 
the  poor  began  to  be  reconciled  to  the  situa- 
tion, and  gradually  learned  to  accept  with  grati- 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  39 

tude  all  that  Heaven  and  their  betters  sent. 
Thus  the  market  came  to  take  its  place  as  the 
unquestioned  arbiter  of  society  —  a  place  that, 
in  spite  of  many  beginnings  in  social  legisla- 
tion, it  still  retains. 

5.   The  Doctrine  of  Evolution 

As  has  already  been  said,  the  transition  from 
Malthus  to  Darwin  took  place  in  the  realm  of 
speculative  science  rather  than  in  the  more 
practical  field  of  political  economy,  and  is  a 
product  of  the  intellectual  activity  awakened 
by  the  machine  age.  Yet  the  evolutionary  phi- 
losophy, though  apparently  remote  from  prac- 
tical considerations,  swings  back  eventually  to 
reinforce  commercialism,  as  will  be  pointed 
out.  In  the  development  of  the  theory  a  con- 
siderable group  of  advanced  thinkers,  both 
English  and  continental,  were  engaged.  The 
main  approaches  were  made  through  geology, 
and  many  thinkers  early  grasped  in  a  general 
way  the  idea  of  a  progressive  evolution  of  life 
forms  on  the  earth;  one  pioneer,  Lamarck, 
even  worked  out  an  ingenious  though  fanciful 
hypothesis  explaining  nature's  method.  The 
evolutionary  point  of  view  was  also  anticipated 
in  literature  before  it  found  adequate  scientific 


40  Social  Environment 

expression,  as  may  be  seen  by  reference  to 
the  works  of  both  Emerson  and  Goethe.  It 
was  not,  therefore,  the  concept  of  evolution, 
but  rather  a  scientific  demonstration  of  a  par- 
ticular method  of  evolution,  that  gave  such  a 
prestige  to  the  works  of  Darwin.  The  idea 
of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  —  an  idea  that 
seems  so  much  at  home  in  nineteenth-century 
England  —  is  Darwin's  essential  contribution. 
And  that  there  existed  an  affinity  between  the 
Darwinian  point  of  view  and  the  dominant 
spirit  of  commercialism  is  indicated  both  by 
the  fact  that  Darwin  found  his  idea  already 
half  stated  in  the  social  studies  of  Malthus, 
and  also  by  the  application  of  the  evolutionary 
hypothesis  which  was  quickly  made  to  the 
social  questions  of  the  day. 

Darwin's  scientific  work  was  in  the  field  of 
biology;  it  is  to  Spencer  that  the  honor  be- 
longs of  rounding  the  theory  out  into  the  full 
proportions  of  a  world  philosophy.  Spencer 
found  in  all  the  departments  of  concrete  knowl- 
edge, from  astronomy  to  human  society,  a 
"process  of  development  toward  equilibra- 
tion" And  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of 
his  age  he  arrived  at  laissez  faire  as  the  scien- 
tific principle  that   should  determine  govern- 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  41 


ment.  Obsessed  with  the  fixity  of  natural  law, 
he  held  any  serious  endeavor  to  control  com- 
petition in  the  market  to  be  childish,  and  he 
found  the  highest  wisdom  in  allowing  nature 
to  run  its  course. 

The  phase  of  Darwinian  evolution  that  most 
demands  attention  from  the  social  point  of 
view  is  the  central  idea  of  competition  and 
the  resulting  destruction  of  the  weak  as  the 
cause  of  progress  —  practically  the  exaltation 
of  natural  selection  to  the  place  of  the  creative 
principle  itself.  It  may  be  said  in  passing  that 
this  emphasis  is  much  lessened  in  present-day 
opinion,  according  to  which  the  creative  power 
in  nature  is  an  unexplainable  life  energy  to 
which  the  survival  of  the  fittest  is  secondary. 
With  Darwin  and  his  followers,  however,  sur- 
plus population,  competition,  elimination  of 
the  weak,  and  the  survival  of  the  fittest  in  an 
entirely  unmoral  sense,  was  nature's  law  of 
progress. 

6.  The  Application  of  Darwinism 

The  possibility  of  applying  the  Darwinian 
hypotheses  in  support  of  laissez-faire  society 
was  quickly  seen,  and  the  details  of  that  appli- 
cation have  been  worked  out  in  large  part  by 


42  Social  Environment 

the  modern  eugenists,  though  it  should  be  said 
that  not  all  of  them  go  to  the  extreme  of  the 
biological  argument.  According  to  the  evolu- 
tionary philosophy  as  thus  worked  out,  society 
is  considered  to  be  a  continuation  of  the  natu- 
ral struggle  seen  in  the  world  of  the  lower 
animals  and  plants.  Overpopulation,  the  basic 
factor  of  progress,  precipitates  struggle, 
whether  of  the  battlefield  or  of  the  market. 
Dominating  the  struggle  rise  the  world's  aris- 
tocracies, both  feudal  and  commercial,  which 
represent  fayorable  biological  variations,  the 
higher  types  of  the  human  species.  Progress  is 
to  be  measured  by  the  degree  to  which  these 
superior  breeds  succeed  through  the  competition 
of  life  in  crowding  out  the  inferior  breeds,  for 
social  organization  is  thought  of  as  a  mere 
function  of  the  biological  qualities  of  a  popu- 
lation at  any  given  time.  The  eugenic  philos- 
ophy, then,  amply  met  the  demand  felt  by  the 
laissez-faire  thinkers  at  the  time  of  the  con- 
flict over  the  poor-laws.  Not  only  was  poverty 
natural,  as  Malthus  had  shown;  it  was  now 
also  seen  to  be  the  agency  of  all  enduring 
progress.  In  the  shambles  of  the  slum,  where 
drifted  the  broken  and  the  beaten,  nature  was 
eliminating  the  so-called  inferior  stock;  hence, 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  43 

charity,  social  legislation,  or,  in  fact,  any  at- 
tempt to  interfere  with  the  severe  competition 
which  wore  out  and  flung  aside  the  workers, 
M^as  regarded  as  unscientific.  The  law  of  natu- 
ral selection  in  society  should  not  be  thwarted. 
Let  the  commercial  struggle  go  on ;  let  the  able 
and  the  shrewd  build  their  leisure  classes  on 
the  basis  of  ownership  of  land  and  other  prop- 
erty; let  them  increase  in  numbers  while  the 
severity  of  conflict  causes  the  weaklings  to  be 
exploited  and  to  perish,  and  progress  was  con- 
sidered certain.  By  some  extremists  it  was 
even  thought  to  be  advisable  to  promote  vices 
such  as  drunkenness  and  sensuality,  since  by 
such  means  the  unwary  might  be  entrapped 
and  destroyed.  As  one  scientist  phrased  it, 
keep  "a  wide  open  door  to  hell,"  and  so  let 
the  unfit  perish  and  the  fit  survive.  Man's 
kinship  with  the  animals  having  been  definitely 
established,  society  was  to  find  its  pattern  in 
the  jungle.  Such  was  the  practical,  though 
unwarranted,  outcome  of  Darwinism. 

With  Darwin  and  Spencer  that  burst  of 
intellectual  life  which  had  come  with  the  ad- 
vent of  the  machine  age  reached  its  height. 
Even  during  their  time  it  had  begun  to  lessen. 
British  thought  became  timid,  and  the  intel- 


44  Social  Environment 

lectual  capital  of  the  world  moved  elsewhere. 
Except  for  the  eugenics  movement,  which,  as 
we  have  just  seen,  was  merely  an  attempt  to 
apply  evolution  to  social  problems,  England 
produced  no  further  noteworthy  developments 
of  philosophical  thought.  A  feeling  of  uncer- 
tainty prevailed.  The  very  emphasis  with 
which  the  logic  of  evolution  was  repeated  re- 
vealed a  chilling  doubt  as  to  the  foundations 
of  economic  life. 

7.  The  Reaction  in  Literature 

The  feeling  of  uncertainty  found  expression 
in  literature  during  the  whole  period  of  the 
industrial  revolution  and  the  establishment 
of  capitalism.  Carlyle  obtained  a  respectful 
hearing  for  that  stormy  protest  which  came 
from  the  lonely  anguish  of  sight  in  the  midst 
of  blindness.  How  well  these  words  of  his 
caricature  the  prevailing  spirit : 

Ours  is  a  world  requiring  only  to  be  well  let  alone. 
Scramble  along,  thou  insane  scramble  of  a  world; 
thou  art  all  right  and  shalt  scramble  even  so.  And 
whoever  in  the  press  is  trodden  down  has  only  to 
lie  there  and  be  trampled  broad. 

In  milder  spirit  the  poets  also  reflect  some- 
what the  same  attitude.     .Wordsworth,  after 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  45 

an  outburst  of  youthful  enthusiasm  for  the 
rights  of  man,  suddenly  awakened  to  the  sinis- 
ter aspects  of  commercial  freedom,  and  hence- 
forth devoted  himself  to  the  pathos  of  humble 
life.  Matthew  Arnold  voiced  his  pessimism 
over 

....  this  strange  disease  of  modern  life, 
With  its  sick  hurry,  its  divided  aims, 
Its  heads  o'ertaxed,  its  palsied  hearts. 

But  it  was  Tennyson  who  best  reflected  the 
spirit  of  nineteenth-century  England.  Through- 
out his  chastened  verses  runs  a  minor  tone  of 
gloom  whenever  he  deals  with  human  society, 
as  is  seen,  for  example,  when  he  makes  one  of 
his  characters  thus  refer  to  the  Deity: 

I  found  Him  in  the  shining  of  the  stars, 
I  marked  Him  in  the  flowering  of  His  fields. 
But  in  His  ways  with  men  I  find  Him  not. 

Yet  the  poet  does  not  altogether  despair.  He 
looks  forward  in  words  that  now  appear  almost 
prophetic  to  a  great  debauch  of  war  with  "  the 
nations'  airy  navies  grappling  in  the  central 
blue,"  but  after  that,  as  he  thinks,  "the  kindly 
earth  shall  slumber."  Whether  the  latter  phrase 
of  the  prophecy  is  likely  to  be  fulfilled  or  not, 
it   is   at   least  expressive   of   the   respectable 


46  Social  Environment 

conservatism  of  Tennyson's  England.  Luxu- 
riously clothed  and  housed,  with  wealth  that 
expanded  while  they  slept,  the  English  moneyed 
aristocracy  asked  only  to  be  let  alone.  To 
bother  over  social  evils  that  the  evolutionist 
had  shown  to  be  really  necessary  was  bad  form. 
With  serene  faith  they  echoed  Tennyson's 
words, 

Oh,  yet  we  trust  that  somehow  good 
Will  be  the  final  goal  of  ill, 

while  the  poet,  having  cast  this  radiant  blossom 
of  hope  to  the  slum  dwellers,  soothed  his  own 
sorrows  with  a  coronet. 

8.  The  Dilemma  of  English  Thought 

In  his  greatest  poem  Tennyson  has,  how- 
ever, gone  further  and  suggested  the  logical 
difficulties  in  which  English  philosophical 
thought  was  halted.  He  speaks  of  man, 
Nature's  latest  work, 

Who  trusted  God  was  love  indeed, 
And  love  creation's  final  law  — 
Tho'  Nature,  red  in  tooth  and  claw 

With  ravine,  shrieked  against  his  creed. 

Now  the  spirit  of  English  commercial  com- 
petition as  justified  by  the  evolutionist,  and 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  47 

as  It  actually  expressed  itself  in  irresponsible 
luxury  based  on  revolting  poverty,  was  ob- 
viously akin  to  "  Nature  red  in  tooth  and  claw." 
Opposed  to  this  was  the  weak  social  instinct 
and  tradition  which  asserted  the  unity  of  the 
race  and  the  mutuality  of  society  in  the  ethical 
ideal  of  a  God  of  love.  Here,  then,  was 
"Nature  and  God  at  strife"  in  English  social 
tendencies.  Such  a  dualism  was,  however,  a 
fairly  accurate  representation  in  poetic  terms 
of  the  nature  of  society  from  its  beginning, 
for  society  consists  of  a  harmonizing  moral 
force  imposing  itself  upon  an  unmoral  realm 
of  natural  law  —  a  divine  principle  subordi- 
nating the  world  of  the  flesh,  to  borrow 
theological  terms.  The  dilemma  of  English 
thought  lay  not  in  that  it  had  felt  this  dualism, 
but  in  that  it  had  linked  itself  with  Nature  in- 
stead of  with  God  in  the  strife  of  which  Tenny- 
son speaks.  In  fact,  its  whole  development 
from  the  earliest  modern  awakening  on  through 
Malthus  and  Darwin  to  Benjamin  Kidd  and 
Karl  Pearson  was  an  exaltation  of  natural  law 
with  its  unmoral  operation,  and  a  consequent 
implicit  repudiation  of  the  demands  of  the 
higher  social  nature  of  man.  Basing  its  rea- 
soning on  the  natural  and  the  animal,  intellec- 


48  Social  Environment 

tual  England,  in  sympathy  with  the  unsocial 
attitude  of  the  factory  lords,  had  developed  a 
philosophy  which  found  no  vital  place  for  that 
fundamental  idealism  and  religion  which  ex- 
presses the  essence  of  society.  In  fact,  Eng- 
land's most  popular  sociologist  after  Spencer 
calmly  assigned  to  religion  the  function  of 
soothing  the  unfit  into  accepting  their  de- 
struction. 

And  yet,  having  gone  so  far,  English  evolu- 
tionary thought  was  afraid  to  go  to  the  logical 
conclusion  that  its  premises  demanded.  For 
the  logic  of  an  evolution  that  has  missed 
the  meaning  of  society  leads  from  commer- 
cial competition  to  militarism.  Nietzsche,  with 
his  faith  in  unfettered,  unmoral  competition, 
stands  at  the  logical  conclusion  of  the  argu- 
ment But  militarism  was  inconsistent  with 
the  instincts  of  the  British  commercial  classes, 
who  were  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  results 
of  business  exploitation.  Having  entered  the 
field  first  and  extended  their  operations  until 
they  had  obtained  a  firm  hold  on  the  most 
promising  markets  and  investment  opportuni- 
ties, they  desired  all  the  ambitious  of  the  world 
to  play  the  game  for  power  in  their  way.  They 
had  to  fight  Napoleon  to  prevent  his  establish- 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  49 

ing  a  world  empire,  but  in  general  they  de- 
plored war  and  avoided  it.  This,  then,  was 
the  dilemma  of  laissea-faire  evolution,  a  logic 
that  approved  of  exploitation  through  the 
might  of  money,  but  that  became  silent  or 
resorted  to  sentimental  cant  when  exploitation 
by  the  sword  was  mentioned.  Logic,  however, 
is  merely  one  aspect  of  life  processes,  and  life 
usually  refuses  to  stop  halfway.  So  even- 
tually aggressive  commercialism  became  mili- 
tarism in  spite  of  all  efforts  to  stop  it. 

When  the  vigor  of  English  intellectual  life 
ebbed,  leadership  in  the  world  of  thought 
passed  definitely  to  Germany.  It  is  conse- 
quently to  Germany  that  we  must  turn  if  we 
would  trace  the  later  phases  of  evolutionary, 
materialistic  philosophy.  The  social  conditions 
which  form  the  background  of  German  thought 
first  demand  our  attention. 

p.  German  Social  Development 

The  chief  contrast  between  English  and 
German  social  development  lies  in  the  differ- 
ing ratios  of  strength  between  feudal  and 
commercial  aristocracies.  In  England  the  im- 
petus of  commercialism,  arising  from  a  favor- 


50  Social  Environment 

able  geographical  position  and  from  the  coming 
of  machinery,  thrust  aside  feudalism,  with  all  its 
disciplining  qualities.  In  Germany,  however,  the 
feudal  classes  continued  in  power,  modified  by 
and  yet  subordinating  commercialism  as  it  came 
in  with  the  industrial  revolution,  and  furnish- 
ing that  strong  core  of  national  organization 
which  England  so  decidedly  lacked.  Hence  the 
emphasis  on  freedom  which  the  English  mer- 
chant and  factory  lord  inspired  is  paralleled 
in  Germany  by  the  emphasis  on  duty  to  the 
state  which  the  feudal  lord  directs.  Such  in 
very  general  terms  is  the  contrast  between  the 
two  countries. 

The  tendency  in  German  life  which  makes 
it  so  uncongenial  a  home  for  the  laissez-faire 
philosophy  goes  back  to  medieval  roots.  In 
the  later  Middle  Ages,  when  the  struggle  for 
survival  still  took  the  form  of  open  aggression 
with  the  sword,  some  of  the  titled  leaders  of 
that  aggression  condescended  to  call  into  coun- 
cil certain  men  of  the  schools,  the  so-called 
Cameralists.  With  their  aid  was  worked  out  a 
policy  founded  on  the  idea  that  the  best  way 
to  mold  serfs  into  worthy  supporters  of  the 
glory  and  power  of  a  prince  was  to  make  them 
prosperous  and  happy.    Thus  began  in  a  most 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  51 

natural  way  that  paternalism  and  systematic 
social  organization  which  has  borne  such 
notable  fruits  in  modern  Germany.  Perhaps 
the  greatest  single  step  in  the  recent  exten- 
sion of  that  policy  was  taken  when  Bismarck, 
actmg  for  the  throne,  started  the  social  insur- 
ance movement.  It  is  noteworthy  that  in  so 
doing  he  officially  announced  the  government's 
opposition  to  the  laisses-faire,  survival-of-the- 
fittest  policy,  and  set  forth  in  opposition  to  it 
the  policy  of  protecting  the  poor  against  the 
greed  of  capital  in  accordance  with  Christian 
ethics.  In  this  pronouncement  he  set  clearly 
in  opposition  the  system  of  competitive  gain 
through  bargaining,  which  the  evolutionary  phi- 
losophy had  championed,  and  the  social  policy 
of  checking  individualistic  commercial  aggres- 
sion in  favor  of  the  good  of  the  organized 
group.  It  is,  of  course,  easy  to  attack  his  position 
as  determined  by  the  self-interest  of  a  militaris- 
tic dynasty,  yet  the  wisdom  and  essential  justice 
of  the  policy  is  attested  not  only  by  its  contri- 
bution to  the  well-being  and  efficiency  of  the 
German  masses,  but  by  the  fact  that  the  policy 
has  been  adopted  in  most  of  its  essential  fea- 
tures by  other  industrial  nations,  including 
England.     Even    the    United    States,    where 


52  Social  Environment 

capitalism  has  enjoyed  the  greatest   freedom, 
is  beginning  to  swing  toward  social  legislation. 

10.  German  Interpretations  of  Evolution 

The  evolutionary  point  of  view  began  its 
development  in  Germany  as  early  as  in  Eng- 
land, but  it  lacked  the  incentive  of  an  imme- 
diate practical  application.  In  its  earlier  phases 
it  appeared  more  conspicuously  in  theories  of 
pedagogy  than  in  social  theories.  Kant,  to 
whom  modern  Germany  looks  as  practically 
the  founder  of  its  working  philosophy,  shows 
little  resemblance  to  the  evolutionists,  yet  he 
has  laid  down  a  principle  as  to  the  place  of 
materialistic  science  which  is  fundamental  in 
evaluating  the  evolutionary  theory.  He  in- 
sisted that  the  world  in  which  scientific  thought 
moves  —  the  world  of  cause  and  effect,  and 
hence  of  evolutionary  processes  —  is  a  lower 
world  that  must  be  dominated  by,  instead  of 
dominating,  man's  inner  moral  nature.  Though 
he  spoke  subjectively  and  not  in  a  way  that 
fits  into  our  present  wider  knowledge,  yet  the 
principle  is  a  basic  one,  and  the  failure  to  per- 
ceive it  is  the  prime  reason  for  the  unsocial 
tendencies  of  English  thought.  Kant,  with  his 
international  outlook  and  his  insistence  on  the 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  53 

supremacy  of  moral  idealism  over  the  phys- 
ical, is  a  master  mind  of  the  modern  world 
whose  significance  will  be  better  appreciated 
when  mankind  has  broken  through  the  cloud 
of  error  into  which  materialistic  science  has 
plunged  ethical  thought. 

It  was  Hegel's  philosophy  of  history  that 
founded  the  interpretation  of  evolution  which 
later  took  hold  of  the  German  mind.  Hegel 
achieved  a  distinctly  evolutionary  point  of 
view  in  history  on  the  basis  of  national  strug- 
gles for  survival  and  supremacy.  The  state 
was  considered  an  organic  growth  engaged  in 
an  inevitable  struggle  with  other  states.  So 
basic  was  this  law  of  conflict  that  there  could 
be  no  binding  force  in  international  law,  since 
the  first  and  foremost  duty  of  the  state  was 
to  succeed  in  the  competition.  Practically, 
Hegel's  philosophy  was  a  reflection  of  the  situa- 
tion in  which  Germany  found  herself  during 
the  stormy  years  of  Napoleon's  career.  During 
that  time  the  need  of  national  unity  was 
strongly  felt,  and  the  fact  of  international 
struggle  was  painfully  evident. 

The  feeling  of  national  organic  unity  and 
the  emphasis  on  international  competition  be- 
came fixed  in  German  thought  by  the  events 


54  Social  Environment 

of  a  later  period.  In  the  first  place,  political 
unity  was  achieved  about  the  aggressive  mili- 
tary organization  of  Prussia,  and,  in  the  second 
place,  the  remarkable  industrial  expansion  of 
Germany  brought  inevitable  clashing  with  the 
interests  of  other  nations.  So  the  internation- 
alism of  Kant  became  an  empty  figure,  while 
his  concept  of  duty  to  a  moral  ideal  became 
localized  in  the  form  of  obedience  to  the 
Hohenzollerns.  This  popularization  of  the 
divine-rights  idea  was  a  symptom  of  extreme 
nationalism  —  a  stage  in  social  evolution  that 
had  been  lived  through  in  England  and  France, 
where  it  had  been  succeeded  in  the  popular 
imagination  by  the  sway  of  majorities.  Thus 
it  came  about  that  the  evolutionary  philosophy 
in  Germany  received  an  interpretation  in 
which  the  state  figured  more  strikingly  as  the 
unit  than  did  the  individual.  The  completed 
philosophy  of  history  as  an  evolutionary  strug- 
gle between  races  and  nations  was  elaborated 
into  a  sociology  by  Ratzenhofer  and  Gumplo- 
wicz,  and  was  reflected  and  popularized  by 
such  men  as  Treitzschke  and  Bernhardi.  This 
philosophy  saw  in  war  what  English  thought 
had  seen  in  business  competition  for  property; 
namely,  the  necessary,  predestined  means  of 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  55 

achieving  a  more  advanced  civilization.  Where 
English  thought  had  centered  upon  the  indi- 
vidualistic struggle  for  power  in  the  market 
as  the  method  of  evolution,  German  thought 
had  come  to  center  about  the  nation  as  the 
unit  in  a  struggle  which  glorified  war  as  the 
final  arbiter. 

II.  Evolution  and  Modern  Conditions 

It  must  be  admitted  that  there  is  a  degree 
of  exaggeration  about  attributing  the  idea  of 
individualistic  commercial  aggression  to  Eng- 
lish thought,  and  national  militaristic  aggres- 
sion to  German.  In  reality,  national  systems 
of  the  present  day  differ  only  in  emphasis  and 
not  in  principle.  English  capital  seeking  the 
exploitation  of  foreign  lands  has  forced  an 
imperial  naval  policy  to  protect  its  profits. 
German  commercialism  under  the  fostering 
care  of  a  militaristic  government  has  similarly 
reached  out  for  the  gains  of  world  trade  and 
investment.  So-called  democratic  countries  like 
France  and  the  United  States  have  evolved  or 
are  evolving  practically  the  same  organization; 
effective  social  control  is  consolidated  in  massed 
capital,  which  reaches  its  tentacles  out  to  re- 
mote parts  of  the  earth  and  compels  the  flag 


56  Social  Environment 

to  follow  and  support  business.  Everywhere 
capitalism  grows  into  vital  organizations  like 
great  super-beasts  which  have  almost  passed 
beyond  the  control  of  the  people  concerned. 
Back  of  industry  stand  the  money-lending 
classes  who  urge  business  enterprise  to  pile 
up  the  social  debt  of  capitalization;  and  the 
pressure  of  the  demand  for  dividends,  blindly 
following  the  line  of  least  resistance,  forces 
society  toward  anarchy  or  war.  But,  after 
all,  the  real  foundation  of  the  system  is  in 
the  thinking  of  the  masses,  in  the  outlook  on 
life  which  finds  its  excuse  in  the  Darwinian 
philosophy. 

With  such  a  social  parentage  was  evolved 
the  cosmic  evolutionary  philosophy  in  all  its 
varied  applications.  The  key  word  of  the  phi- 
losophy is  struggle  —  the  struggle  of  the  indi- 
vidual toward  a  secure  leisure-class  position, 
and  the  struggle  of  the  nation  toward  military 
supremacy  in  the  interests  of  its  foreign  trade 
and  investments.  How  old  a  religion  is  this 
which  materialistic  science  has  evolved  —  the 
worship  of  Mammon  and  Mars!  Yet,  though 
the  evolutionary  philosophy  is  morally  bank- 
rupt, it  has  performed  a  great  service  in 
compelling  man  to  face  the  realities  of  his  exist- 


The  Theory  of  Evolution  57 


ence.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  modern  world 
in  its  unsocial  aspects  is  best  understood  when 
viewed  in  the  light  of  the  evolutionary  struggle. 
And  it  is  essential  that  the  world  be  under- 
stood in  all  its  brutality  in  order  that  the 
highest  manifestation  of  life  —  man's  moral 
idealism  —  may  subject  the  natural  order  and 
at  length  guide  it  out  of  the  path  of  bestial 
conflict  it  is  now  treading. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    NATURE   OF   SOCIETY 

OCIENCE  at  all  accurate  and  reliable  is  of 
^  very  recent  origin.  And  even  yet  the  solid 
land  of  demonstrated  law  is  but  a  tiny  island 
in  a  universe  of  uncharted  depths.  The  super- 
ficial facts  about  the  earth,  the  physical  and 
chemical  properties  of  the  commoner  sub- 
stances, and  the  principles  of  mechanics  are 
fairly  well  known.  The  phenomena  of  plant 
and  animal  life  are  much  less  clearly  under- 
stood. Psychology,  particularly  in  its  applied 
aspect  as  the  art  of  education,  is  so  uncertain 
as  scarcely  to  warrant  classification  as  a  sci- 
ence. And  when  we  come  to  the  generaliza- 
tions of  the  social  sciences  we  find  ourselves 
beside  the  deep  seas  of  fable  and  opinion,  while 
scientifically  planned  social  organization  has 
scarcely  passed  the  initial  stage.  The  most  we 
can  hope  to  do,  then,  in  pointing  out  the  nature 
of  society,  is  to  indicate  a  few  of  the  out- 
standmg  historical  features  of  its  evolution. 
The  emphasis  will  be  placed  upon  the  spiritual 

58 


The  Nature  of  Society  59 


forces  creating  social  unity  rather  than  upon 
the  biological  forces  that  engender  conflict. 

I.  Darwinism  and  Sociology 

Not  only  is  our  sociology  inadequate,  it  is 
so  warped  by  inharmonious  development  as  to 
be  sometimes  misleading  or  even  practically 
false.  Social  thinking,  so  far  at  least  as  it 
claims  scientific  standing,  has  arisen  as  a  side 
issue  from  biology.  The  evolution  of  plant 
and  animal  life,  viewed  in  the  light  of  the 
Darwinian  theory  —  with  the  emphasis  placed 
on  the  natural  struggle  and  the  survival  of 
the  fittest  in  that  struggle  —  has  been  made  the 
basis  of  recent  attempts  to  understand  social 
evolution.  It  has  therefore  come  about,  as  we 
have  seen,  that  society  has  been  viewed  as  a 
struggle  of  individuals  in  the  market  for  su- 
premacy and  survival  through  the  ownership 
of  property;  and  this  view,  abstracted  from  a 
passing  phase  of  economic  history,  has  been 
considered  an  inherently  just  system  resting 
on  unchangeable  biologic  law.  Or,  again, 
social  evolution  has  been  viewed  as  a  struggle 
of  groups,  states,  or  races  for  supremacy,  and 
the  principle  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  has 
been  called  upon  to  pronounce  its  benediction 


6o  Social  Environment 

upon  militarism.  Yet  in  spite  of  established 
customs  of  exploitation  through  business  and 
destruction  by  war,  it  is  evident  at  even  a 
glance  that  society  normally  is  a  principle 
checking  and  controlling  the  selfish  impulses 
of  the  individual  in  the  interests  of  a  larger 
unity.  It  is  true  that  the  biologic  principles 
of  struggle,  exploitation,  and  the  elimination  of 
the  weak  persist.  Society,  the  highest  product 
of  the  evolutionary  scale,  sums  up  in  itself 
what  has  gone  before,  but  its  essence  is  that 
which  controls  and  uses  these  elements  for 
more  far-reaching  purposes.  Just  as  the  well- 
poised  character  is  something  more  than  the 
sum  of  certain  animal  appetites,  so  is  society 
something  more  than  a  conflict  of  individuals 
and  groups  contending  for  mastery. 

2.  Creative  Evolution 

Not  only  does  the  Darwinian  conception  of 
life  fail  to  explain  society,  but  it  even  gives  a 
one-sided  view  of  the  lower  orders  of  crea- 
tion ;  and  since  this  view  has  been  carried  over 
into  sociology,  it  will  be  worth  noting  here. 
The  Darwinian  theory  is  inadequate  in  that  it 
has  elevated  the  principle  of  struggle  and  selec- 
tion into  the  place  of  the  creative  principle. 


The  Nature  of  Society  6l 


That  this  assumption  results  from  a  narrow 
perspective  has,  however,  become  more  and 
more  evident.  The  publication  of  Bergson's 
Creative  Evolution  marks  the  complete  re- 
action of  modern  thought  from  the  older 
position,  though  Bergson  was  by  no  means 
the  first  one  to  state  the  new  doctrine.  The 
basic  fact  of  evolution  is  not  competition,  but 
creation.  At  the  source  of  every  advance,  life 
taps  the  creative  energies  of  the  universe,  and 
new  forms  bud  into  being.  Beneath  all  life, 
beneath  the  external  fact  of  the  natural  strug- 
gle, is  the  primal  urge  of  creation  to  push  out 
into  greater  complexity  of  form.  Because  this 
evident  fact  could  not  be  explained  on  me- 
chanical grounds,  because  it  implied  an  element 
that  could  not  be  subjected  to  intellectual  anal- 
ysis, it  was  avoided  by  the  science  that  came 
with  the  machine  age.  While  appreciating 
today  the  growing  importance  of  the  intellect 
as  the  means  life  uses  for  shaping  its  higher 
expression,  we  realize  now  what  a  mere  tool 
it  is  in  the  grip  of  the  elemental  forces  that 
lie  beyond  its  vision,  and  we  no  longer  are 
ashamed  to  confess  our  ignorance  of  how 
chemical  and  physical  properties  can  correlate 
and  become  one  with  self-conscious  mind. 


62  Social  Environment 

From  the  standpoint  of  its  evolution  life 
begins  with  the  crystal.  Here,  from  the  hid- 
den sources  of  energy,  formless  matter  takes 
form  in  straight  lines  which,  broken  or  re- 
directed, produce  a  complexity  of  geometrical 
forms.  These  forms  in  their  completest  devel- 
opment predict  in  miniature  the  outward  shapes 
of  higher  types  of  life.  As  if  broken  down 
by  endless  clashing,  the  life  energy  next  appears 
as  protoplasm,  which  flows  into  the  curving 
exterior  of  the  cell,  and  from  that  into  worm 
and  fish,  reptile  and  beast,  bird  and  man,  as 
the  compressing  forces  of  the  environment 
allow.  The  varied  lines  of  growth,  striking 
out  in  their  effort  to  use  and  master  the  en- 
vironment, clash  in  strife.  Some  disappear, 
others  survive  only  as  a  food  supply  for  supe- 
rior types,  while  still  others  become  the  source 
of  new  energy  that  makes  of  their  descendants 
higher  creations.  In  spite  of  the  anarchy  of 
conflict.  Nature  reveals  her  inner  spirit  in 
beauty  of  form,  rhythm  of  motion,  and  har- 
mony of  flower  and  song.  Even  in  its  pre- 
human stages,  life  is  not  comprehended  when 
it  is  seen  as  a  mechanical  process  of  conflict 
with  survival  of  chance-adapted  individuals. 
We  are  nearer  to  the  heart  of  things  when 


The  Nature  of  Society  63 

with  the  poetic  mind  we  hear  Nature's  varied 
language,  and  grasp  life's  urgent  progress 
toward  complete  self-expression  in  universal 
harmony  and  law  —  a  movement  that  begins 
in  conflicting  eddies,  merging  into  larger 
streams  that  seem  to  prophesy  a  greater  ocean. 

5.   The  Essentials  of  Society 

As  a  description  of  the  outward  clashing  of 
the  myriad  forms  of  life,  the  factors  involved 
in  the  conflict,  and  the  conditions  determining 
the  results,  Darwinism  is  admittedly  true.  But 
with  the  beginnings  of  human  society  the 
course  of  evolution  changes  so  decidedly  in 
character  that  it  can  be  no  longer  adequately 
interpreted  by  the  same  philosophy.  To  begin 
with,  society  arises  as  a  reaction  from  the 
individualism  of  biologic  selection.  It  evolves 
as  a  place  of  refuge  from  the  storms  of  com- 
petition. Its  essence,  then,  is  an  antagonism 
to  the  individualistic,  selective  struggle,  and  to 
the  egoism  which  that  struggle  engenders.  It 
demands  from  the  individual  devotion  and 
self-sacrifice  to  outweigh  his  selfishness.  The 
group  may  be  in  competition  with  other  groups, 
and  the  individual  in  the  group  may  still  be 
subject  to   selective   influences,  yet  society   in 


64  Social  Environment 

its  origin  is  a  principle  transcending  and  prom- 
ising eventually  to  harmonize  the  anarchy  of 
the  natural  struggle. 

But  human  society  is  not  merely  a  system 
of  mutual  aid.  In  fact,  simply  from  the  co- 
operative standpoint,  it  does  not  represent  the 
climax  of  nature's  work.  The  societies  of 
insects,  such  as  the  ants  and  bees,  ages  ago 
attained  perfection  so  far  as  the  complete  sub- 
jection of  the  individual  to  the  group  is  con- 
cerned, yet  that  which  is  the  distinctive  feature 
of  human  society  they  entirely  lack.  Their 
cooperation  is  rooted  in  instinct,  which  is  a 
matter  of  inherited  physical  structure.  Human 
society,  however,  is  primarily  spiritual  and 
only  secondarily  biologic;  that  is,  conduct  is 
guided  by  the  accumulation  of  custom,  tradi- 
tion, religion,  law,  science,  literature,  and  all 
the  intangible  elements  that  are  transmitted 
from  generation  to  generation  by  imitation  and 
formal  education. 

With  the  beginning  of  human  society,  prog- 
ress becomes  a  matter  of  the  struggle  for 
survival  of  custom  over  custom  and  idea  over 
idea,  and  only  secondarily  of  individual  over 
individual.  The  spiritual  element,  rooted 
though  of  course  it  is  in  the  biologic,  becomes 


The  Nature  of  Society  65 

the  predominant  factor  of  evolution.  And 
because  of  this,  human  society  becomes  a 
progressive  instead  of  a  static  cooperation, 
relatively  independent  of  biologic  selection. 
Through  society,  man  without  essential  bio- 
logic change  extends  his  senses  and  his  powers 
into  mechanical  forms  that  far  surpass  the 
creations  of  the  lower  species,  and  enters 
through  trade  into  cooperations  that  are  world- 
wide in  their  scope.  Thus  the  vital  harmony 
which  seems  struggling  for  expression  in  the 
prehuman  stages  reaches  its  birth,  and  man 
becomes  a  center  of  organization  drawing  into 
the  sweep  of  his  system  the  physical  elements 
of  the  planet,  much  of  the  animal  and  vege- 
table kingdoms,  and  the  lives  of  his  fellows. 
To  be  sure,  mankind  is  as  yet  close  to  the 
brute,  his  earthy  chrysalis  still  clings  to  him, 
his  systems  are  limited  and  imperfect;  but  the 
spirit  within  him  and  the  creative  ideals  which 
are  urging  him  on  point  to  an  eventual  world- 
society  progressively  interpenetrating  nature 
by  a  knowledge  of  its  laws. 

4.  Human   Nature   and   the   Social  Heritage 

The  biological  basis   of  human  society   is, 
then,  not  a  matter  of  fixed  instincts,  but  of 


66  Social  Environment 

extreme  plasticity,  of  power  of  imitation  and 
suggestion,  and  of  capacity  for  developing  and 
transmitting  ideas.  As  the  prehuman  came 
to  the  human  stage  it  was  as  if  the  mind  which 
at  first  appeared  as  form  and  instinct  rather 
than  as  rational  consciousness  rose  into  shapes 
that  could  disembody  themselves  at  will.  Ideas 
which  had  been  things  of  flesh  became  free 
spirit,  to  live  and  grow  from  age  to  age  in  the 
souls  of  successive  generations  of  men,  and  to 
leap  the  barriers  of  time,  continent,  and  race. 
Primitive  man  poetically  grasped  the  truth  of 
the  human  soul  when  he  thought  of  it  as  some- 
thing passing  like  a  dream  =hape  from  the  body 
and  finding  lodgment  in  other  bodies,  or  when 
he  felt  the  living  presence  of  departed  an- 
cestors with  him  in  his  struggles.  For  ideas, 
whether  crudely  embodied  in  custom  or  scien- 
tifically stated  in  textbooks,  are  living  things 
that  pass  from  soul  to  soul  and  from  genera- 
tion to  generation,  to  mold  the  character  and 
determine  the  actions  of  the  recipients.  So  the 
experiences  and  experiments  of  the  past  go 
with  the  living  generation,  wrought  into  their 
lives  as  they  grow  into  the  customs  and  spirit 
of  their  times. 

Human   nature    is    educabllity.      It   is    the 


The  Nature  of  Society  67 


power  of  forming  habits  in  a  social  environ- 
ment through  the  various  influences  of  con- 
scious and  unconscious  education.  It  is  based 
upon  a  nervous  system  having  dynamic  tend- 
encies rather  than  fixed  instincts,  and  depend- 
ing for  its  development  on  the  influences 
surrounding  it  as  the  vine  depends  upon  the 
trellis  to  which  its  tendrils  cling.  Without  a 
social  organization  into  which  to  climb,  man 
would  not  grow  above  the  brute.  That  which 
is  human  in  him  is  the  response  his  plastic 
nature  makes  to  the  lives  and  influences  of 
others.  This  is  not  to  deny  the  force  of  innate 
tendencies;  people  vary  greatly  in  their  sus- 
ceptibility to  different  influences.  But  in  what- 
ever direction  development  may  occur,  it  is 
guided  by  influences  flowing  into  the  present 
from  the  uncounted  generations  of  the  past. 

Thus  at  the  beginning  of  society  there  arose 
the  distinction  between  physical  and  spiritual 
elements,  between  flesh  and  spirit.  That  which 
was  born  of  the  flesh  passed  through  innumer- 
able blendings  of  the  germ  plasm  into  succes- 
sive generations  of  varying  physical  forms, 
and  that  which  was  born  of  the  spirit  of  the 
occasional  genius  passed  from  mind  to  mind 
as  an  accumulating  social  heritage. 


68  Social  Environment 

The  difference  between  the  biologic  evolu- 
tion of  the  prehuman  species  and  the  social 
evolution  of  man  may  be  seen  in  the  develop- 
ment of  flying.  Nature  produced  the  bird 
apparently  from  reptilian  ancestors  through 
many  poorly  adapted  and  only  partially  suc- 
cessful types  up  to  the  efficient  species  now 
existing.  In  this  process  of  evolution  the 
poorly  adapted  necessarily  were  crowded  out 
and  destroyed  by  the  better  adapted.  Step  by 
step,  through  variation,  competition,  and  selec- 
tion, through  experiment  and  waste,  life  at 
last  sprang  into  the  air  upon  the  fully  devel- 
oped wing.  The  same  ambition  taking  con- 
scious form  in  man  reaches  its  fruition  in  a 
rapid  burst  of  invention,  through  forms  of 
monoplane,  biplane,  and  airship,  arising  first 
in  the  medium  of  the  creative  imagination, 
and  taking  rapidly  changing  shapes  in  wood 
and  metal  through  acquired  mechanical  tech- 
nique. The  process  is  carried  on  without  the 
change  of  man's  physical  inheritance,  while  the 
results  of  the  experimentation  preserved  in 
printed  symbols  become  the  common  property 
of  all  peoples  for  all  time.  The  evolution  of 
the  bird  required,  through  natural  selection,  a 
wholesale  waste  of  life,  for  the  individual  bird 


The  Nature  of  Society  69 


was  itself  the  embodied  idea,  whereas  through 
man  the  idea  finds  inanimate  expression  be- 
yond the  physical  body  and  escapes  the  hard 
necessities  of  organic  evolution.  Thus  does 
thought,  transcending  the  flesh,  become  the 
highest  product  of  creation,  and  the  world  of 
the  mind  is  built  up. 

The  beginnings  of  the  social  heritage  must 
have  arisen  from  the  instinctive  stages  with 
the  earliest  habits  of  conscious  association. 
Groups  were  held  together  by  the  blood  bond, 
and  their  conduct  necessarily  became  regu- 
lated; perhaps  some  recognized  form  of  the 
family  may  have  been  the  first  advance  over 
purely  instinctive  conduct,  since  sex  regulation 
was  fundamental  to  permanent  association. 
Inventions  of  use  in  industry  and  warfare 
gradually  accumulated,  and  often  spread  from 
one  group  to  another.  The  process  depended 
upon  the  evolution  of  the  intellect  and  its 
accompanying  expression  in  language.  There 
must,  of  course,  have  been  a  concurrent  bio- 
logical selection  of  individuals  better  adapted 
to  use  the  social  heritage,  but  this  selection, 
being  itself  determined  by  the  prevailing  cul- 
ture, gradually  falls  into  a  secondary  place. 
Eventually,  it  seems,  biological  selection  must 


70  Social  Environment 

become    almost    wholly    artificial    through    a 
rational  system  of  eugenics. 

With  the  historic  period,  the  social  inherit- 
ance became  immensely  greater  in  volume  and 
importance.  Custom  and  tradition  grew  more 
flexible,  conduct  was  systematized  by  law, 
political  and  industrial  organization  crystal- 
lized into  institutions,  knowledge  of  nature 
grew  into  sciences,  while  the  core  of  civiliza- 
tion expressed  itself  in  literatures  and  religions 
which  exercised  sway  over  the  emotional  basis 
of  human  action. 

5.   The  Dynamic  Element  in  Society 

In  accordance  with  the  materialistic  point 
of  view  of  modern  times,  it  has  become  cus- 
tomary to  regard  the  industrial  elements  of 
the  social  heritage  as  largely  determining  the 
more  idealistic  elements.  It  is  assumed  that 
religion,  for  example,  grows  out  of  the  strug- 
gle for  a  livelihood.  That  there  is  a  close  cor- 
relation between  the  economic  and  the  idealistic 
is  evident,  but  that  the  former  determines  the 
latter  is  not  so  evident.  According  to  the 
usual  view,  the  social  standards  expressed  in 
religion  and  literature  must  always  lag  behind 
economic  progress,  since  they  cannot  be  begun 


The  Nature  of  Society  71 

or  changed  until  an  economic  advance  is  suffi- 
ciently developed  to  make  its  influence  felt. 
Yet  this  is  certainly  not  the  case  with  the  cen- 
tral ideals  to  which  civilization  formally  sub- 
scribes. Humanitarian  conceptions  of  love, 
truth,  and  freedom  are  anticipations  running 
far  in  advance  of  actual  accomplishment,  and 
in  view  of  their  power  over  the  human  spirit 
they  may  reasonably  be  held  to  constitute  the 
organizing  and  creative  element  in  social 
progress. 

A  consideration  of  the  development  of  even 
the  physical  sciences  indicates  that  idealistic 
rather  than  economic  forces  should  be  re- 
garded as  primary.  Primitive  man  early  de- 
veloped a  mystic  sense  of  undefined  forces 
dwelling  in  nature — forces  potent  to  bless  or 
to  curse  the  race.  His  motive  for  reaching 
out  after  these  forces  was,  perhaps,  related  to 
hunger,  but  the  intuition  of  their  presence  and 
the  form  that  his  strivings  took  were  original, 
idealistic  realities  like  prayer  or  poetry.  The 
various  methods  of  magic  were  prophetic 
gropings  rather  than  practical  conclusions 
from  experience.  Through  them  man  was 
reaching  out  to  the  handling  of  the  forces  of 
nature,  as  the  tendrils  of  a  plant  search  blindly 


72  Social  Environment 

for  solid  support.  The  importance  attached  to 
each  detail  of  magic,  the  infinite  value  attrib- 
uted to  every  motion  of  rite  and  ceremonial, 
were  premonitions  of  the  demands  nature 
makes  in  the  technique  of  science.  The  expec- 
tations aroused  by  partial  successes,  as  when 
whirling  sticks  produced  fire,  have  been  pre- 
served in  legends  of  enslaved  genii.  Primitive 
man  lived  in  an  atmosphere  of  mystery  and 
awe,  which  is  necessarily  the  first  stage  in  prog- 
ress beyond  the  known,  for  it  is  the  belief  that 
there  is  a  transcendental  unknown.  And  the 
budding  ambitions,  later  to  take  concrete  form, 
expressed  themselves  in  fable  and  myth.  The 
ten-league  boots,  the  wings  of  Hermes,  the 
hammer  of  Thor,  the  thunderbolt  of  Jove, 
Aladdin's  lamp,  were  the  day  dreams  of  the 
dawning  human  intelligence  which  have  now 
been  fulfilled  in  aeroplane,  locomotive,  artillery, 
and  the  uses  of  electricity.  The  sciences  have 
passed  through  the  stages  of  wonder,  dream- 
ing, superstition,  and  experimentation  before 
reaching  relative  exactness  and  commonplace 
usefulness.  Astronomy  was  once  astrology, 
chemistry  was  alchemy,  physics  was  magic  and 
miracle,  and  psychology  was  divination. 

Not  only  the  physical  sciences,  but  the  social 


The  Nature  of  Society  73 


sciences  to  a  yet  greater  degree,  experience  a 
fanciful  and  idealistic  infancy.  To  secure  co- 
operative action  the  evil  spirits,  or  ideas,  of 
hatred  and  murder  had  to  be  driven  out,  or 
at  least  pacified  to  a  serviceable  rivalry.  This 
end  was  attained  in  the  primitive  clan  by 
various  rites  of  exorcism  and  invocation  of 
spirit  aid.  The  common  fear  of  unchained 
passion  and  of  nature,  made  vivid  by  incan- 
tation, rite,  and  legend,  created  a  pressure  that 
held  men  to  the  ways  experience  had  proved, 
while  prophet  and  seer  inspired  to  cooperative 
effort  through  their  imaginative  interpreta- 
tions of  life.  Prophetic  vision  accumulates 
as  literature,  and  struggles  for  existence  in 
custom  and  law.  But  though  vision  has  at- 
tained the  sublime  heights  of  the  gospels,  yet 
the  practical  application  in  social  control  can 
hardly  be  said  as  yet  to  have  reached  a  logical 
stage,  politics  and  law  being  complex  conven- 
tionalities rather  than  sciences.  While  there 
are  indications  in  expert  industrial  manage- 
ment and  in  social  legislation  that  a  scientific 
stage  is  coming,  yet  the  world  contains  in  its 
international  community  of  trade  and  thought 
only  the  crude  beginnings  of  that  universal 
reign   of   righteousness   which   has   been   the 


74  Social  Environment 

wellspring    of    hope    through    centuries    of 
struggle. 

The  world's  idealism,  then,  is  the  creative 
energy  at  its  highest  apex  pushing  into  the 
future.  That  vital  urge  which  throughout  evo- 
lutionary history  expressed  itself  in  higher 
mutations,  now  speaks  preeminently  in  the 
inspiration  of  the  noblest  thought.  Not  from 
physical  appetite,  but  from  a  spiritual  faculty 
for  righteousness,  does  this  idealism  arise.  The 
spur  of  hunger  does  not  produce  a  dream  of 
a  just  order  in  the  brute,  nor  does  the  exploi- 
tation of  the  brutish  man  awake  within  him 
a  vision  of  the  New  Jerusalem  descending  from 
heaven.  There  may  be  a  certain  figurative 
sense  in  which  the  higher  faculties  may  be  said 
to  result  from  the  checking  and  sublimation  of 
the  animal  appetites,  yet  the  form  that  the 
sublimation  takes  is  none  the  less  a  new  crea- 
tion. Dirt  does  not  unfold  the  flower  until  the 
seed  of  a  new  life  is  implanted,  and  in  the  same 
way  the  grossness  of  man's  carnal  nature  does 
not  grow  into  the  idealism  of  religion,  poetry, 
and  social  striving  except  as  it  is  imbued  with 
the  creative  forces  of  the  universe.  This  is, 
of  course,  not  an  explanation  of  the  phe- 
nomena.   It  is  simply  an  acknowledgment  that 


The  Nature  of  Society  75 

they  are  unexplainable,  as  are  all  the  steps  in 
the  evolutionary  process  where  the  less  pro- 
duces the  greater.  We  can  only  say  that  here 
is  creation. 

The  creative  soul  of  society  manifests  itself 
through  the  mutuality,  the  friendliness,  the 
cooperation  of  the  group.  It  is  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  love  and  faith  that  the  delicate 
growths  of  the  mind  searching  out  the  intri- 
cacies of  science  and  art  come  to  maturity. 
The  social  order  that  best  approximates  the 
spirit  of  the  highest  ethics  as  stated,  let  us  say, 
in  the  concept  of  the  gospels,  is  the  one  that 
provides  the  best  environment  for  the  develop- 
ment of  the  highest  things  in  civilization  —  a 
development  that  in  the  long  run  means  both 
physical  and  spiritual  strength.  Back  of  the 
literary,  artistic,  political,  and  industrial  de- 
velopment of  peoples  like  the  Hebrews,  the 
Greeks,  and  the  Romans  stand  national  ideals 
creating  group  aspiration,  confidence,  coopera- 
tion, and  sacrifice,  and  staying  the  storm  of 
competitive  greed  sufficiently  to  allow  some  of 
the  finer  fruits  of  the  soul  to  mature.  And 
it  is  under  such  conditions  that  the  real  talent 
of  the  individual  becomes  apparent.  As  social- 
ization  attains    its    strength,    the   proud,    the 


76  Social  Environment 

mighty,  and  the  rich  are  often  passed  by,  while 
the  creative  impulse  manifests  itself  in  the 
heart  of  the  poor  and  despised,  who,  like 
garden  flowers  in  the  rude  competition  of  the 
roadside,  have  hitherto  lain  crushed  and 
dwarfed.  The  advancement  of  science  and 
art  and  the  invention  of  machinery  that  have 
been  such  marked  features  of  miDdern  life  have 
been  possible  because  in  some  measure  the 
world  has  first  worked  out  social  ideals,  achiev- 
ing a  sufficiently  stable  organization  so  that 
the  fineness  of  thought  which  expressed  itself 
as  machinery  could  grow.  Back  of  the  mate- 
rial changes,  then,  that  modern  invention  is 
bringing  stand  the  social  ideals  that  have 
guided  man's  crude  nature  into  the  path  of 
achievement  where  he  now  stands.  Not  in  the 
stimulating  of  competition  and  war,  but  in  the 
further  realization  of  social  idealism,  in  the 
making  actual  of  ideals  of  brotherhood,  and 
in  the  aesthetic  achievements  of  the  social  arts, 
is  the  path  of  further  progress. 

6.  The  Social  Environment 

So  it  is  that  society,  though  existent  at  any 
given  moment  in  the  physical  bodies  and 
brains  of  men,  is  in  its  essence  a  body  of 


The  Nature  of  Society  yy 


sifted  ideas,  radiating  out  of  creative  social 
ideals,  and  passed  as  an  accumulating  heritage 
from  generation  to  generation.  It  is  life  risen 
from  the  physical  and  become  immortal  in  the 
things  of  the  spirit;  it  is  the  dream  of  man- 
kind finding  expression  through  genius  and 
achieving  the  control  of  nature.  On  the  bio- 
logical side  it  is  the  individual,  the  product  of 
the  egoistic  struggle  for  survival,  driving  with 
the  full  force  of  his  animal  inheritance  to 
bend  the  world  to  his  service,  yet  held  even- 
tually by  the  net  that  humanity,  through  its 
long  experience,  has  woven  and  is  weaving. 
This  net  of  the  social  environment  binds  the 
natural  egoism  to  the  service  of  the  family, 
the  community,  the  nation,  and  the  world,  set- 
ting at  last  to  the  strongest  a  limit  to  his  selfish- 
ness, so  that  a  Saul  becomes  a  Paul,  a  robber 
baron  becomes  a  people's  king,  and  a  financial 
adventurer  becomes  the  founder  of  a  new  eco- 
nomic order.  And  as  yet  the  titanic  forces  of 
world  socialization,  clashing  in  their  conflicting 
currents,  have  only  begun  their  work. 

Our  knowledge  of  physical  heredity,  valu- 
able though  it  may  be,  is  not  sufficient  to 
explain  the  course  of  development  of  the  indi- 
vidual soul.    The  oppositions  and  correlations 


78  Social  Environment 

of  the  inborn  physical  tendencies  and  the  ac- 
quired social  influences  are  intricate,  and 
usually  beyond  our  unraveling.  Man,  born 
of  the  flesh,  combines  from  his  physical  ances- 
try certain  potentialities  that  the  fates  have 
selected  for  him ;  born  of  the  spirit,  he  acquires 
certain  tendencies  and  modes  of  thinking  and 
acting  that  come  to  him  in  part  by  chance  and 
in  part  by  choice.  The  results  in  the  develop- 
ment of  character  are  diverse  and  incalculable. 
The  social  heritage,  particularly  in  its  creative 
ideals,  contains  dynamic  spiritual  forces  which 
when  brought  home  to  a  soul  vitalize  it  and 
inspire  it  to  the  achievement  of  almost  miracu- 
lous results.  Poetry  and  art  and  religion, 
touching  the  emotional  springs  of  conduct,  ac- 
complish such  results  at  all  times  to  a  certain 
degree,  but  in  epochs  when  new  life  is  germi- 
nating the  process  is  seen  in  its  highest  meas- 
ure. The  great  man  is  the  embodiment  of  the 
budding  spirit  of  his  age,  created  by  the  power 
of  the  ideals  to  which  he  has  submitted 
himself.  Thus  Lincoln  was  the  embodiment 
of  American  democracy,  Shakespeare  of  the 
Renaissance,  and  Jesus  of  tribal  brotherhood 
as  it  blossomed  into  universal  brotherhood. 
The  Word  is  made  flesh  first  in  some  pioneer- 


The  Nature  of  Society  79 


ing  brain,  from  whence  its  influence  spreads 
until  it  leavens  an  age. 

In  spite  of  the  prevalent  mechanistic  views 
of  heredity,  it  is  even  probable  that  the  crea- 
tive forces  of  the  social  environment  not  only 
energize  the  individual,  but  exert  a  eugenic 
influence  as  well.  The  power  of  the  mind  over 
the  body  is  a  scientific  fact,  as  is  evidenced  in 
hypnotic  suggestion  and  in  the  emotional  con- 
trol over  the  chemistry  of  health  through  the 
agency  of  the  internal  secretions.  If,  then, 
the  faculties  of  the  soul  have  their  chemical 
analogues,  the  impulse  of  vital  faith  and  love 
will  favorably  modify  the  composition  of  the 
blood,  reach  the  germ  plasm,  and  affect  the 
reproductive  process,  which  is  very  susceptible 
to  chemical  influences.  Thus  the  spiritual 
forces  of  the  environment  may  in  some  de- 
gree carry  through  to  the  innate  impulse  trans- 
mitted to  the  offspring.  Such  a  hypothesis  is 
far  more  closely  in  harmony  with  the  historic 
rise  of  classes  and  races  under  the  refining 
influence  of  a  high  culture  than  is  the  hypothe- 
sis of  racial  improvement  by  Darwinian  nat- 
ural selection. 

The  recognition  of  the  spiritual  nature  of 
society  need  not  blind  us  to  the  ugly  realities 


8o  Social  Environment 


of  history   that  materialistic   science   has   set 
forth.     It  is  true  that  tribal  society  grew  into 
national    organization    through    the    clash    of 
conquest  and  the  unutterable  brutality  of  caste, 
but  this  should  be  recorded  as  a   failure  of 
mankind  to  foresee  and  plan  rather  than  as 
the  cause  of  progress.     And  greater  than  the 
fact  of  conquest  is  the  spiritual  influence  which 
through  European  history  brought  hope  to  the 
serf  and  pity  to  the  oppressor,  and  thus  soft- 
ened  class   lines   so   that   the  modern   world 
became  possible.     History  misleads  us  by  de- 
scribing the  storms  but  forgetting  the  days  of 
quiet  sunshine  and  shower  that  matured  the 
harvest.  We  see  the  pageantry  and  pride  of  the 
past,  but  we  overlook  the  gentle  power  that 
brought  to  more  than  one  mail-clad  knight  a 
vision  of  the  lowly  Christ  and  caused  him  to  seek 
the  Holy  Grail  among  his  despised  serfs.  And, 
paralleling  the  experience  of  the  early  world, 
the  modern  age  has  been  thrust  by  the  Indus- 
trial Revolution  into  a  bewildering,  rich  heri- 
tage for  which  it  is  only  half  prepared,  and 
again  headlong  greed  has  slipped  from  control 
to  trample  the  masses  underfoot.     But  let  us 
not  doubt  that  the  harmony  of  world  socializa- 
tion will  yet  be  achieved !    We  cannot  balk  the 


The  Nature  of  Society  8i 


forces  of  evolution;  we  can  only  determine 
whether  wisdom  shall  bring  the  consummation 
relatively  quickly,  or  whether  it  shall  be  reached 
through  the  reaction  from  further  world  war. 
With  the  spiritual  character  of  society  in 
view,  we  are  in  a  position  to  see  the  inadequacy 
of  making  the  individualistic  struggle  for  sur- 
vival as  conceived  by  Darwin  the  basis  of  a 
social  philosophy.  In  attempting  to  do  so, 
modern  thought  has  stimulated  the  selfish  com- 
petition for  domination  to  the  point  of  endan- 
gering the  very  fabric  of  civilization.  Under 
the  new  conditions  of  the  machine  age.  the 
thrust  of  the  forces  of  individual  and  group 
greed  in  the  pursuit  of  property  has  produced 
widespread  misery,  class  strife,  and  world  war. 
Thus  by  the  anguish  of  the  war-torn  nations 
does  Nature  drive  man  back  to  the  service  of 
the  ends  she  has  revealed. 


CHAPTER  IV 

SOCIAL  ENVIRONMENT  AND  EUGENICS 

TT/'E  have  now  considered  two  opposing 
^  world  views  of  society  as  represented 
in  biological  and  sociological  theories  respec- 
tively. Of  the  two  it  is  apparent  that  the  soci- 
ological is  the  more  comprehensive,  including 
as  it  does  a  consideration  of  the  biological 
elements.  The  biological  theory,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  the  result  of  hasty  conclusions  drawn 
from  narrow,  though  admittedly  valuable,  ge- 
netic studies.  As  a  working  theory  it  is  ably 
advocated  by  the  eugenists  of  the  old  school; 
fortunately  many  recent  eugenic  writers  seem 
inclined  to  give  sociological  data  due  consid- 
eration. 

I.  Biological  Extremes  in  Eugenics 

The  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  take  up 
some  of  the  statistical  evidence  for  the  oppos- 
ing viewpoints,  but  it  would  perhaps  be  well 
first  to  review  briefly  the  position  of  the  bio- 
logical eugenists  —  if  we  may  be  allowed  to 
use  the  apparently  redundant  phrase.     Their 

82 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics      83 

position  is  based  upon  a  profound  faith  in  ex- 
treme competition,  with  a  resulting  natural 
selection  of  nature's  fittest.  In  that  struggle, 
it  is  thought,  real  ability  must  win,  since  the 
surest  test  of  ability  is  success  against  natural 
obstacles.  The  rigid  eugenist  has,  then,  no 
place  in  his  philosophy  for  "mute  inglorious 
Miltons,"  and  he  inclines  strongly  to  the  opin- 
ion, so  pleasing  to  the  aristocrat,  that  the  upper 
classes  of  society  are  formed  by  the  sifting 
out  and  elevation  of  the  biologically  valuable 
stocks.^  These  stocks  are  thought  to  breed 
true,  with  some  Mendelian  variation,  to  their 
specific  abilities,  as  do  the  inferior  stocks  to 
their  disabilities.  The  practical  outcome  is  a 
consistent  attack  in  the  name  of  science  upon 
anything  in  the  nature  of  social  legislation, 
charity,  or  in  fact  any  measures  designed  to 
protect  the  apparently  weaker  members  of 
society,  and  a  laudation  of  competition  and 
aristocracy. 

As  a  single  example  to   illustrate  the  bio- 
logical  eugenist's  absorption   in  physiological 

1  Galton,  F.,  Hereditary  Genius.  Macmillan  &  Co., 
London,  1892.  Jordan,  D.  S.,  The  Human  Harvest. 
American  Unitarian  Association,  Boston,  1912.  Bateson, 
W.,  Biologic  Fact  and  the  Structure  of  Society.  Claren- 
don Press,  Oxford,  1912. 


84  Social  Environment 

facts  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  influences, 
the  following  item  may  be  noted.  A  recent 
writer^  states  that  not  only  the  impulse  to  sui- 
cide, but  even  the  preference  for  a  particular 
means,  is  transmitted  by  heredity.  He  gives 
as  proof  the  case  of  a  certain  family  in  which 
three  members  in  successive  generations  at- 
tempted suicide  by  cutting  the  left  arm.  The 
author  could  scarcely  have  been  familiar  with 
the  psychology  of  suggestion,  or  he  would  at 
least  have  considered  the  part  it  must  have 
played  in  the  tragedy.  Such  a  shortsighted 
view  is  the  natural  result  of  the  fact  that  the 
science  of  eugenics  has  been  developed  mainly 
from  the  biologic  pomt  of  view  by  persons 
unappreciative  of  or  unfamiliar  with  psycho- 
logical and  sociological  interpretations.  Natu- 
rally, persons  with  such  an  outlook  can  see  no 
cause  for  poverty  and  other  social  maladjust- 
ment except  defective  germ  plasm.  Bad  sani- 
tation, defective  education,  speeded  industries, 
and  unearned  dividends  receive  scant  attention. 

2.  Recent  Data  on  Heredity 

But  the  biological  eugenist  answers  his  crit- 
ics with  a  challenge.     He  brings  forward  a 

1  Whetham  and  Whetham,  An  Introduction  to  Eugenics, 
p,  24.    Bowes  &  Bowes,  Cambridge,  1912, 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics      85 

mass  of  statistical  evidence  that  has  been 
worked  out  with  scientific  precision  in  support 
of  the  influence  of  heredity.  This,  he  claims, 
establishes  his  case.  And  on  inspection  it 
proves  that  the  evidence  is  such  as  to  demand 
attention.  It  includes  some  of  the  most  valu- 
able biological  work  of  recent  years,  beginning 
about  1900  with  the  rediscovery  of  the  Men- 
delian  law  of  heredity  and  proceeding  into  a 
veritable  maze  of  data  covering  many  phases 
of  the  problem.  Perhaps  the  most  important 
part  of  the  evidence  as  bearing  upon  the  ques- 
tion before  us  is  that  connected  with  the  bio- 
metrical  study  of  heredity,  the  beginnings  of 
which  go  as  far  back  as  Galton,  who  may  be 
regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  method.^  The 
biometricians  have  adapted  the  theory  of  sta- 
tistics to  their  field  of  work  with  great  success. 
The  most  important  of  the  mathematical  oper- 
ations that  they  have  developed  and  used  is  the 
computing  of  the  so-called  coefficient  of  corre- 
lation—  a  means  of  finding  precisely  the  extent 
of  agreement  existing  between  two  sets  of  re- 
lated data.  With  the  aid  of  this  mathematical 
tool  it  has  been  found  possible  to  measure,  far 

1  Doncaster,  L.,  Heredity  in  the  Light  of  Recent  Re- 
search, Ch.  IV.    G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  New  York,  1911. 


S6  Social  Environment 

more  precisely  than  it  could  be  done  before,  the 
strength  of  ancestral  influences.  It  was  found, 
for  example,  that  such  physical  characters  as 
height  and  weight,  though  transmitting  with 
great  variability,  showed  a  dependable  regu- 
larity when  a  large  number  of  cases  were  con- 
cerned. Just  as  the  insurance  actuary  found 
that  the  duration  of  life,  so  uncertain  for  the 
individual,  became  a  predictable  matter  when 
dealt  with  in  the  mass,  so  the  biometrician  dis- 
covered laws  of  heredity  through  the  handling 
of  extensive  data. 

As  a  result  of  the  successful  study  of  the 
transmission  of  physical  characters,  attention 
naturally  turned  to  the  investigation  of  mental 
and  moral  traits  in  human  heredity.  Profes- 
sor Pearson  and  his  coworkers^  easily  showed 
that  intellectual  ability  exhibits  a  measurable 
intensity  of  inheritance,  much  as  physical  char- 
acters do.  Their  proof,  to  be  sure,  sometimes 
fails  to  convince,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of 
discriminating  between  biological  and  social 
heredity,  yet  on  the  whole  they  have  estab- 
lished their  case.     Dr.   F.  A.   Woods,  in  his 


1  Eugenics  Laboratory  Memoirs,  particularly  No.  i,  by 
Schuster,  London.  Also  An  Introduction  to  Eugenics, 
p.   10. 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics      87 

elaborate  study  of  royal  families/  has  given 
very  conclusive  evidence  of  the  same  fact,  and 
has  further  extended  his  proof  to  include  moral 
qualities.  By  computing  correlations  he  has 
shown  that  both  mental  and  moral  traits  are 
transmitted,  with  a  lessening  degree  of  intens- 
ity in  successive  generations.  He  does  not 
claim,  of  course,  that  results  could  be  predicted 
in  any  individual  case,  but  rather  that  in  the 
groupings  of  large  numbers  of  cases  results 
regularly  appear  that  can  be  interpreted  only 
as  indications  of  ancestral  influences.  Other 
studies  in  the  same  direction  might  be  cited, 
notably  the  investigation  into  the  transmission 
of  feeble-mindedness,-  but  probably  enough  has 
been  said  to  suggest  the  nature  of  the  work 
that  has  been  done. 

The  biologists  have,  therefore,  made  it  per- 
fectly clear  that  the  force  of  heredity  in  deter- 
mining mental  and  moral  traits  is  considerable. 
And  in  the  absence  of  similar  proof  of  the 
force  of  the  social  environment,  it  is  perhaps 
natural  that  they  should  regard  social  influ- 
ences as  negligible,  and  should  actually  suggest 

1  Woods,  F.  A.,  Mental  and  Moral  Heredity  in  Royalty. 
Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  New  York,  1906. 

2  Goddard,  H.  H.,  The  Kallikak  Family.   The  Macmil- 
lan  Co.,  New  York,  1912. 


88  Social  Environment 

that  while  environmental  influences  may  be  of 
importance  in  the  lower  reaches  of  the  biologi- 
cal scale,  yet  with  man  heredity  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  sole  important  factor.^  The 
question  is  therefore  raised  as  to  whether  the 
biologist  can  be  met  on  his  own  ground  with  a 
statistical  demonstration  of  the  influence  of 
the  social  environment.  The  method  that  he 
has  developed  should  be  susceptible  of  use  in 
determining  social  as  well  as  hereditary  influ- 
ences. 

5.    Statistical  Proof  of  the  Social  Environment 

As  the  matter  stands  today,  scarcely  enough 
work  has  been  done  on  the  influence  of  the 
social  environment  to  demonstrate  that  the  new 
method  of  approach  is  applicable  to  the  sub- 
ject. The  monumental  statistical  work  of  Dr. 
L.  F.  Ward  that  appears  in  his  Applied  Soci- 
ology^ stands  almost  alone,  and  even  in  this 
case  little  use  is  made  of  new  mathematical 
mtehods.  Perhaps  a  summary  of  Dr.  Ward's 
work  may  here  be  in  order,  particularly  since 
the  brief  study  that  follows  is  in  some  respects 
modeled  upon  it. 

*  Warner,  A.  G.,  American  Charities,  p.  114.     T.  Y. 
Crowell  Co.,  New  York,  1908. 
^  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston,  1906. 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics      89 

Dr.  Ward  takes  the  position  that  while  in- 
dividuals vary  greatly  in  their  capacities,  and 
while  genius  is  somewhat  rare,  yet  the 
maturing  of  genius  and  talent  into  actual 
achievement  is  a  matter  that  depends  very 
strictly  upon  such  environmental  factors  as 
home  influences,  education,  and  social  class. 
As  proof,  he  presents  many  individual  cases, 
but  relies  mainly  upon  a  large  body  of  statis- 
tical evidence  that  he  has  borrowed  from  cer- 
tain French  sources,  and  that  relates  to  French 
men  of  science  and  letters.  To  put  the  matter 
briefly,  these  figures  show  that  there  is  a  de- 
cided correlation  between  density  of  population 
in  any  given  district  and  the  production  of 
great  men.^  That  is,  a  densely  populated  region 
produces  a  far  larger  percentage  of  great  men 
than  does  a  sparsely  settled  region.  It  is  shown 
in  detail  that  the  decisive  factors  are  the  lei- 
sure resulting  from  wealth,  the  opportunity 
afforded  by  social  standing,  and  the  nearness 
to  educational  influences;  and  that  such  race 
differences  as  exist  in  France  do  not  affect  the 
problem.  Dr.  Ward  thinks  that  social  classes, 
being    the    modified    continuation    of    castes 

1  Dr.  Ward  has  not  computed  the  correlation,  but  the 
coefficient  may  be  shown  to  be  0.53  ±  0.05. 


90  Social  Environment 

formed  by  conquest,  are  in  the  main  artificial 
contrivances  not  harmonizing  with  the  innate 
variations  in  individual  capacities.  He  con- 
cludes by  suggesting  the  obvious  advantage  that 
society  would  gain  by  developing  the  potential 
genius  in  the  classes  now  so  largely  cut  off 
from  opportunity. 

In  only  one  particular  does  Ward's  study 
fail  to  be  entirely  convincing.  Biologists  make 
the  criticism  that  he  has  failed  to  take  into 
account  the  selective  action  of  favorable  en- 
vironments. They  say  tliat  the  higher  pro- 
portion of  genius  in  densely  populated  regions 
may  plausibly  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
cities  have  for  generations  attracted  men  of 
ability,  so  that  at  length  urban  population  has 
come  to  be  of  a  superior  quality.  In  this  way, 
they  say,  the  statistics  from  France  may  be 
interpreted  on  entirely  biological  grounds. 
Apparently  this  possibility  had  not  occurred  to 
Ward ;  at  least  he  seems  nowhere  to  have  met 
the  objection.  And  it  is  probable  that  the  data 
at  his  command  did  not  allow  of  any  convin- 
cing answer. 

It  has  occurred  to  the  writer  that  a  some- 
what similar  investigation  might  be  made  for 
the  United  States  as  Ward  has  developed  for 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics      91 

France,  and  that  possibly  the  methods  used  by 
biometricians  might  be  employed,  at  least  in 
part,  to  make  the  results  more  definite  and  con- 
clusive. Accordingly  a  study  has  been  made, 
the  statistical  summary  of  which  appears  in  the 
Appendix. 

The  purpose  of  this  study  is  to  discover 
whether  in  the  United  States  the  production  of 
noted  m-en  is  correlated  in  any  marked  degree 
w^ith  density  of  population,  and  with  one  or 
two  other  associated  environmental  factors. 
The  question  is  somewhat  the  same  as  the  one 
commonly  asked:  Does  the  great  man  come 
from  the  country  or  the  city  ?  But  in  view  of 
the  available  data  the  question  is  broadened  to 
read :  Are  noted  men  more  likely  to  come  from 
the  crowded  urban  states,  with  their  superior 
w^ealth  and  opportunities,  than  from  sparsely 
settled  states,  and  if  so,  may  the  correlation 
be  considered  a  measure  of  the  influence  of 
environment  ? 

The  first  difficulty  to  be  encountered  is  the 
question  of  just  who  are  the  great  men.  It 
will  not  do  to  take  merely  the  few  whom  all 
might  agree  upon,  since  the  crux  of  the  corre- 
lation method  is  the  use  of  numbers  sufficiently 
large  to  cancel  the  numerous  chance   forces 


92  Social  Environment 

that  weigh  so  heavily  in  individual  cases.  But 
after  all,  the  question  is  not  one  requiring  a 
precise  answer.  With  proper  safeguarding  any 
large  list  of  prominent  persons  will  do,  even 
though  exceptions  might  be  taken  to  a  consid- 
erable percentage  of  the  names  included.  For 
there  must  be  borne  in  mind  in  this  connection, 
as  well  as  in  the  discussion  to  follow,  a 
principle  applicable  to  correlation  work.  The 
principle  is  that  the  erroneous  inclusion  or  ex- 
clusion of  material  from  the  data,  arising  from 
chance  and  not  from  any  selective  guidance, 
must  always  operate  in  the  long  run  to  lower  a 
correlation.^  As  an  illustration  of  the  prin- 
ciple, suppose  that  one  has  picked  out  the  large 
and  small  grains  from  a  given  sample  of  wheat. 
The  large  and  small  being  kept  separate,  stand 
out  as  two  distinct  types.  Let  a  few  handfuls 
of  wheat  like  the  original  sample  be  thrown 
into  the  selected  lots,  and  the  contrast  begins 
to  be  blurred.  Let  a  larger  quantity  be  thrown 
into  each,  and  the  contrast  practically  disap- 
pears. Just  so  in  the  handling  of  data  to  dis- 
cover correlations.  Some  miscellaneous  errors 
may  be  included  in  the  data,  but  any  correlation 

1  Whipple,   G.   M.,  Manual  of  Mental  and  Physical 
Tests,  pp.  41-42.    Warwick  &  York,  Baltimore,  1910. 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics      93 

that  appears  will  become  evident  in  spite  of 
chance  errors  of  inclusion  or  exclusion  and 
never  because  of  them;  just  as  any  marked 
contrast  between  the  two  lots  of  selected  grain 
will  never  be  the  result  of  random  handfuls 
that  may  have  been  thrown  in.  The  principle 
is  of  the  greatest  importance  in  estimating  the 
value  of  such  work  as  that  of  correlation, 
which  in  fact  rests  on  the  mathematical  regu- 
larity of  the  operation  of  chance. 

It  has  therefore  been  concluded  that  for  the 
purpose  at  hand  the  well-known  Who's  Who  in 
America^  furnishes  suitable  material.  At  the 
©utset  some  investigation  of  the  method  em- 
ployed in  compiling  this  work  was  made,  but 
a  discussion  of  the  subject  is  rendered  unneces- 
sary by  the  use  of  collateral  sources  which, 
though  less  comprehensive,  are  more  authori- 
tative. After  the  problem  was  worked  out  on 
the  basis  of  the  volume  just  mentioned,  re- 
course was  next  had  to  Who's  Who  in  Science,^ 
a  standard  work  likely  to  meet  acceptance,  since 
the  task  of  picking  out  leaders  from  a  specific 
field  is  easier  than  from  a  general  field.  Lastly, 

1  Who's  Who  in  America,  Vol.  vii,  1912-1913.     A.  N. 
Marquis  &  Co.,  Chicago,  1912. 

2  Who's  Who  in  Science.     The  Macmillan  Co.,  New 
York,  1912. 


94  Social  Environment 

to  make  assurance  double  sure,  the  problem 
was  reworked  from  the  data  compiled  in 
Cattell's  American  Men  of  Science.^  In  this 
volume  Dr.  Cattell  has  listed,  after  a  most  care- 
ful process  of  selection,  the  thousand  foremost 
American  leaders  in  science,  and  has  succeeded 
in  compiling  a  work  of  recognized  authority. 
Only  one  objection  can  be  made  to  the  use  of 
the  last  two  books;  namely,  that  the  number 
of  names  included  is  relatively  small,  making 
a  correlation  more  difficult  to  discover.  But 
certainly  any  principle  that  might  be  estab- 
lished on  the  concurrent  authority  of  the  three 
works  could  not  be  discredited  on  the  ground 
of  inadequate  or  invalid  data. 

It  will  be  impossible  here  to  give  any  com- 
plete exposition  of  the  methods  of  handling 
the  data.  The  statistical  tables,  with  the  ac- 
companying brief  explanations,  must  be  al- 
lowed to  speak  for  themselves.  Discussion  will 
be  confined  in  the  main  to  the  significance  of 
the  findings. 

Before  taking  up  the  correlations  in  detail, 
attention  must  be  directed  to  one  or  two  points 
regarding  the  environment  that  is  being  meas- 

*  Cattell,  J.  McK.,  American  Men  of  Science.    Science 
Press,  New  York,  1910. 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics      95 

ured,  A  glance  at  the  tables  will  show  that 
density  of  population  and  other  environmental 
factors  are  measured  at  approximately  the 
average  date  of  birth  of  the  noted  men,  and 
that  the  measurement  so  taken  is  regarded 
as  indicative  of  the  formative  environment 
through  the  years  of  immaturity.  It  might  be 
questioned  whether  this  procedure  is  allowable 
in  view  of  the  shifting  population  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  rapidly  changing  conditions.  It 
is  therefore  necessary  to  ascertain  the  relevant 
facts. 

The  number  of  persons  who  grow  up  in  the 
locality  in  which  they  are  born  is  much  larger 
than  is  popularly  supposed.  Recent  censuses 
(1870-19 10)  find  only  from  twenty  to  twenty- 
four  per  cent  of  the  native  population  outside 
of  the  state  of  birth.  Of  course  a  part  of  those 
remaining  are  children,  some  of  whom  will 
move  before  maturity;  yet  not  a  large  propor- 
tion, since  migrants  are  more  likely  to  be  adults 
than  children.^  It  is  therefore  safe  to  assume 
that  from  one-half  to  three-quarters  of  the  pop- 
ulation grow  up  in  the  same  state  in  which  they 
are  born.    Of  those  who  move,  a  good  part  do 

1  For  the  case  as  to  foreign  immigrants  see  Abstract  of 
Thirteenth  Census  of  the  United  States,  pp.  124-125. 


96  Social  Environment 


not  go  farther  than  adjoining  states,  where,  as 
may  be  seen  from  the  tables,  the  conditions 
studied  do  not,  on  the  average,  vary  so  very 
much.  In  1910,  85.5%  of  the  population  were 
found  living  in  the  same  group  of  states  in 
which  ihey  were  born.  Most  migration,  even 
that  which  travels  great  distances,  follows  occu- 
pational lines;  hence  the  environment  is  not 
likely  to  be  essentially  changed.  It  seems  there- 
fore to  be  justifiable  to  take  the  conditions  of 
the  state  of  birth  as  indicating  the  general 
features  of  the  formative  environment.  And 
here  the  principle  concerning  errors  creeping 
into  the  data  of  correlations  finds  an  applica- 
tion. The  cases  in  which  migration  has  oper- 
ated to  materially  change  environment  can  only 
reduce  correlations,  not  produce  them;  and  it 
may  be  taken  for  granted  that  any  correlation 
that  may  be  found  m  the  accompanying  data  is 
indicative  of  a  really  stronger  causal  relation 
that  in  fact  exists. 

The  next  preliminary  question  concerns  the 
stability  of  the  environment.  It  is  evident  that 
if  there  is  a  great  rearrangement  of  the  states 
within  a  period  of  two  or  three  censuses  when 
ranked  for  any  given  condition,  then  the  meas- 
urement of  the  environment  at  the  time  of  the 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics      97 


birth  of  the  great  man  will  not  apply  through 
the  period  of  his  development.    Of  course  it  is 


One  hundred  per  cent  is  arbitrarily  taken  to  represent 
the  ranking  of  the  states  in  i860  in  respect  to  environ- 
ment. Then  the  Hne  AB  represents  the  tendency  to  fall 
away  from  this  ranking  in  respect  10  density  of  popu- 
lation through  successive  years  as  indicated ;  similarly 
the  line  AC  shows  the  change  in  per  cent  of  illiteracy, 
and  AD  in  elementary  education.  Based  on  Table  i, 
correlations  21,  22,  22,,  2y,  28,  and  30,  Appendix. 

taken  for  granted  that  in  any  locality  there 
will  be  great  environmental  changes  due  to  the 


98  Social  Environment 

general  progress  of  the  country;  but  since 
states  are  here  measured  merely  by  the  rank 
they  occupy,  the  only  pertinent  question  is  as 
to  the  relative  changes.  The  answer  to  the 
question  is  summarized  in  the  accompanying 
graph  which  shows  that  even  in  the  entire 
period  from  i860  to  1910  no  very  great  change 
has  occurred.  Even  the  mild  degree  of  change 
that  appears  to  have  taken  place  in  the  ranking 
of  the  states  in  elementary  education  is  prob- 
ably exaggerated,  due  to  the  irnpossibility  of 
getting  a  uniform  standard  of  measurement. 
The  results  are  decisive  enough  to  put  aside  all 
doubt  of  the  relative  stability  of  the  measured 
factors  of  the  environment  during  the  period 
of  the  development  of  any  individual. 

A  further  question  may  be  raised  concerning 
the  census  to  be  selected  as  the  basis  of  the 
work.  On  the  evidence  of  756  names  taken 
at  random,  Who's  Who  in  America  shows  that 
the  "modal"  age  of  the  persons  included  in 
the  list  of  notables  is  nearly  fifty;  hence  that 
the  census  of  1870,  and  particularly  that  of 
i860,  would  come  close  to  the  average  date 
of  birth.  A  difficulty  arises,  however,  out  of 
applying  to  all  states  generally  any  specified 
census  figures  on  population  as  the  base  in  com- 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics      99 

puting  the  percentage  of  great  men  produced. 
A  state  at  the  time  of  the  census  selected  may 
be  in  the  first  stage  of  a  very  rapid  growth, 
and  its  population  may  then  be  so  relatively 
small  that  the  percentage  of  noted  men  com- 
puted on  it  as  a  base  will  be  disproportionately 
large.  It  may  be  suggested  that  the  noted  men 
should  be  sorted  out  according  to  the  date  of 
birth,  and  handled  statistically  in  several 
groups,  but  this  would  be  an  almost  impossible 
task  in  such  a  mass  of  data.  It  has,  however, 
been  attempted  in  part  in  connection  with  the 
names  from  Who's  Who  in  Science,  where  a 
restriction  to  two  decades  has  been  made.  In 
the  preparation  of  the  data  the  question  was 
carefully  worked  out  as  to  just  what  effect  the 
taking  of  a  state  at  an  earlier  or  a  later  stage 
of  its  history  would  have  upon  the  standing 
of  the  state,  but  the  conclusion  was  reached 
that  by  two  simple  precautions  all  possible  dan- 
ger of  serious  error  might  be  avoided.  In  the 
first  place,  several  different  censuses  might  be 
used,  since  an  early  census  was  found  to  favor 
new  states  and  a  late  one  older  states.  In  the 
second  place  the  study  might  be  limited  in  the 
main  to  states  that  have  passed  the  first  stages 
of  their  growth,  as,  for  example,  those  that  are 


loo  Social  Environment 

included  in  as  early  a  census  as  that  of  1840. 
These  precautions  have  been  taken ;  and  in  view 
of  the  decisive  results  obtained,  any  further 
precautions  seem  unnecessary. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  who  are  not  familiar 
with  coefficients  of  correlation,  a  brief  state- 
ment of  their  meaning  may  be  in  place.  It  has 
already  been  stated  that  the  computing  of  a 
correlation  means  the  measurement  of  the  ex- 
tent of  agreement  existing  between  any  two 
related  sets  of  data.  The  relationship  as  found 
is  expressed  by  a  coefficient  that  may  range  in 
value  from  one  to  minus  one.  The  former 
means  complete  agreement,  zero  means  such  a 
lack  of  agreement  as  would  usually  result  from 
mere  chance,  and  minus  one  means  that  the 
data  compared  are  negatively  related.  For 
example,  if  the  states  were  found  to  rank  in 
exactly  the  same  order  for  density  of  popula- 
tion as  for  fertility  in  noted  men,  the  correla- 
tion would  be  said  to  be  one;  if  they  ranked 
in  the  reverse  order  the  correlation  would  be 
said  to  be  minus  one.  Zero  would  indicate  a 
promiscuous  order  showing  no  distinct  agree- 
ment or  opposition.  The  general  meaning  of 
intermediate  values  is,  of  course,  apparent. 
More  precisely,  it  is  assumed  from  experience 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics     loi 


AREAS  OP  DENSITY  OP  WHITE  POPUUTION 
EASTERN  OTITED  STATES.    1860 


White  Population 
per  Squfu-e  Uile: 


148.75  ^S     19-18i| 
75-35^     121-8  I22J 

35-19  m^       8-1 


that  a  coefficient  falling  below  0.30  cannot  be 
interpreted  as  meaning  any  decisive  causal  re- 
lationship, while  anything  above  0.50  is  cer- 
tainly   decisive,    particularly    if   the    so-called 


^ LIBRARY 

.BWVERSITY  OF  CATjPORNTyr 


T   \ 


I02  Social  Environment 

probable  error  (the  probable  limit  of  variation 
from  the  given  result  by  the  use  of  more  cases) 
is  not  more  than  one-sixth  of  the  coefficient.^ 
On  the  face  of  the  results,  the  correlation 
between  density  of  population  and  fertility  in 
men  of  letters  is  very  decisive.  It  will  be  seen 
from  the  tables  that  for  1850  the  coefficient  is 
0.60  ±0.08;  for  i860  it  is  0.72  ±0.06;  while 
for  1870  it  is  0.76  ±0.05;  or,  if  46  states  are 
included,  0.70^0.05.  There  are,  however, 
two  objections  that  may  be  immediately  antici- 
pated. It  may  be  claimed  that  the  results  are 
in  the  main  due  to  conditions  in  the  southern 
states,  where  the  Negro,  though  incapable  of 
contributing  to  the  noted  men,  has  yet  been 
included  in  the  total  population.  In  another 
computation,  therefore,  the  Negro  has  been  left 
out  of  account  with  the  result  that  the  coeffi- 
cient based  on  the  census  of  i860  is  found  to 
be  0.74  ±  0.06,  two  points  higher  than  it  was 
previously.  It  is  clear,  then,  that  the  inclusion 
or  exclusion  of  the  Negroes  is  not  a  significant 
factor.  Still,  it  may  be  claimed  that  the  corre- 
lation is  due  to  other  sectional  contrasts  be- 
tween the  North  and  the  South ;  or,  on  the  other 

1  King,  W.  I.,  Elements  of  Statistical  Method,  p.  215. 
The  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York,  1912. 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics    103 


■AREAS  FERTILE  III  NOTED  MEN,   EASTERN 
UNITED  STATES   (SEE  TABLE  I.  0) 


Noted  Men  per 
100,000  White 
Population; 

65-50^      32^-13  g?3 

hand,  that  it  is  due  to  contrasts  between  new 
and  old  states  exclusively.  Consequently  a 
grouping  has  been  so  arranged  as  to  compare 
first  Northeast  and  Southeast,  then  Northeast 


104  Social  Environment 

and  Northwest,  so  far  as  the  states  in  the  cen- 
sus of  1840  extended.  On  the  basis  of  the 
census  of  i860  it  was  found  that  in  both  cases 
a  decided  correlation  existed  (see  Appendix, 
Table  i.  Cor,  2,2  and  33  ) .  The  coefficients  pre- 
viously mentioned  were  therefore  not  a  meas- 
ure of  a  peculiarity  limited  to  one  area  alone. 

When  the  computation  is  based  on  Who's 
Who  in  Science,  and  on  Dr.  Cattell's  list  of 
great  scientists,  the  results  are  changed  but 
little.  In  the  former  case  the  coefficient  based 
on  the  census  of  i860  is  0.66  ±  0.07,  and  in 
the  latter  it  is  0.59  ±0.10.  Though  these  fig- 
ures are  a  little  lower  than  the  preceding,  they 
are  still  very  decisive. 

It  is  therefore  evident  that  a  marked  rela- 
tionship exists  between  density  of  population 
and  fertility  in  men  of  note  —  that  for  some 
reason  a  densely  populated  state  is  more  favor- 
able to  the  production  of  prominent  men  than 
is  a  sparsely  settled  state.  A  further  study  of 
the  data  is  now  called  for  to  determine,  if 
possible,  the  factors  giving  significance  to  dens- 
ity of  population.  Economic  and  cultural  influ- 
ences in  the  environment  will  be  given  some 
attention,  then  the  possibility  of  a  biological 
cause  will  be  considered. 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics    T05 

It  is,  of  course,  dear  that  density  of  popu- 
lation in  itself  is  not  the  true  cause  sought;  but 
rather,  if  the  cause  is  environmental,  it  must 
consist  of  certain  influences  associated  there- 
with. Density  undoubtedly  means  the  presence 
of  cities,  and  cities  mean,  in  turn,  many  eco- 
nomic and  cultural  influences.  It  is  worth 
while,  then,  to  compare  rank  in  urban  popu- 
lation and  in  noted  men.  It  was  not  found 
convenient  to  rank  the  states  for  the  percentage 
of  urban  population  in  i860,  as  the  figures 
were  not  available;  but  those  for  1890  were 
obtained  and  were  correlated  with  fertility  in 
noted  men  as  measured  on  the  basis  of  the  cen- 
sus of  1880.  The  coefficient  was  found  to  be 
0.82  ±  0.04.  The  height  of  the  measure  in 
spite  of  the  handicap  of  later  censuses  indicates 
the  importance  of  the  city  environment,  inas- 
much as  density  of  population  taken  alone  may 
in  some  instances  mean  thickly  settled  rural 
districts.  Another  proof  of  the  importance  of 
cities  may  be  set  forth.  The  states  have  been 
ranked  in  accordance  with  the  amount  of  man- 
ufacturing to  the  square  mile,  and  this  ranking 
has  been  correlated  with  fertility  in  noted  men 
—  both  on  the  basis  of  the  census  of  i860. 
The  result  is  a  coefficient  of  0.89  ±  0.03  for 


io6  Social  Environment 

Who's  Who  in  America,  0.76  ±  0.05  for  Who's 
Who  in  Science,  and  0.80  ±  0.05  for  Cattell's. 
Manufacturing  states  are  of  course  the  ones 
in  which  great  cities  have  grown  up,  and  in 
which  wealth  and  cultural  advantages  have  de- 
veloped.^ It  is  evident  that  the  opportunities 
an  urban  environment  affords  are  very  closely 
associated  with  the  production  of  men  of  note. 
Before  leaving  the  question  of  the  value  of 
a  city  environment,  it  may  be  observed  that 
there  is  evidence  to  show  that  the  natives  of 
large  cities  do  not  achieve  fame  any  more  read- 
ily than  do  the  natives  of  the  neighboring 
smaller  places  and  rural  districts.  Dr.  Cattell 
gives  statistics^  that  show  that  one-seventh  of 
the  population,  comprising  the  inhabitants  of 
the  largest  cities,  produces  26%  of  the  great 
scientists,  or  1.83  times  its  pro  rata  share.  Now 
his  data  show  that  a  similar  percentage  of  the 
nation,  comprising  the  total  population  of  the 
most  thickly  settled  states,  can  be  credited  with 
from  two  and  one- fourth  to  three  times  its  pro 
rata  share  of  great  scientists.  That  is,  the  in- 
clusion of  the  contiguous  smaller  places  and 

■•  Clearly  shown  by  Correlation  31,  which  gives  a  coeflfi- 
cient  of  0.86  ±  0.03,  in  spite  of  the  divergence  that  must 
result  from  taking  censuses  thirty  years  apart. 

'^American  Men  of  Science,  p.  559. 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics    107 

rural  districts  with  the  large  cities  results  in  a 
better  showing.  It  seems,  then,  that  under 
'American  conditions  the  great  scientist  is  most 
likely  to  be  born  on  the  farm  or  in  the  town 
that  lies  within  reach  of  the  great  city;  the  next 
most  probable  birthplace  is  the  great  city  itself; 
while  the  least  probable  is  the  town  or  district 
remote  from  the  large  cities. 

Attention  may  now  be  directed  to  the  educa- 
tional factors  in  the  environment.  While  it  is 
not  possible  to  gauge  accurately  the  efficiency 
of  the  common  schools  of  a  generation  ago, 
material  may  be  gathered  from  the  census  of 
i860  upon  which  an  estimate  may  be  based. 
The  total  number  of  children  attending  school 
is  given  for  each  state,  and  this  number  divided 
by  the  number  of  children  of  school  age^  serves 
as  a  measure  of  the  relative  amount  of  elemen- 
tary education.  A  second  indication  of  edu- 
cational efficiency  is  found  in  the  extent  of 
illiteracy  among  the  native  inhabitants,  which, 
though  not  directly  stated,  is  readily  estimated 
from  the  census  data.  In  both  cases,  in  defer- 
ence to  the  southern  states,  white  population 
only  has  been  included.    Finally,  the  two  meas- 

^  The  age  groups  five  to  fifteen,  both  sexes,  were 
added  to  form  this  divisor. 


io8  Social  Environment 

ures  have  been  combined  into  one  index  giving 
each  equal  v^eight,  and  the  states  ranked  in 
accordance  with  this  index.  It  is  found  that 
common-school  efficiency  as  thus  determined 
correlates  markedly  with  fertility  in  noted  men, 
the  coefficient  being  0.77  ±0.05.  In  the  case 
of  the  scientists  the  correlation  is  still  more 
marked.  The  computation  on  the  basis  of 
Who's  Who  in  Science  gives  a  coefficient  of 
0.86  ±:  0.03,  while  on  the  basis  of  Dr.  Cattell's 
list  it  reaches  the  remarkably  high  figure  of 
0.93  ±  0.02.  Such  a  very  decisive  correlation 
is  a  significant  proof  of  the  value  of  public 
education  as  a  means  of  discovering  genius. 

It  is  college  education,  however,  that  is  pre- 
sumably most  directly  related  to  the  prepara- 
tion of  leaders.  Data  showing  this  relation 
were  sought,  but  the  census  of  i860  was  found 
to  be  disappointing,  as  it  confessedly  has  been 
unable  to  draw  the  line  between  academies  and 
colleges.  As  a  result  the  statistics  of  higher 
education  for  i860  are  misleading.  While  it 
ought  not  to  be  difficult  to  establish  from  other 
sources  the  association  of  the  greater  centers 
of  learning  with  the  areas  of  dense  population, 
and  hence  with  the  production  of  noted  men,  it 
has  been  found  more  profitable  to  approach  the 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics     109 


matter  from  another  direction.  An  attempt 
has  been  made  to  answer  the  question  of  the 
relative  success  of  college  and  non-college  men 
in  the  attainment  of  fame. 

The  statistical  table  in  Who's  Who  in  Amer- 
ica,^ revised  slightly  to  allow  for  those  who 
have  not  sent  in  educational  statistics,  shows 
that  8,985  persons  out  of  the  total  of  17,546 
listed  have  graduated  from  colleges  giving  bac- 
calaureate degrees.2  This  means  that  517^  of 
the  noted  persons  are  college  graduates,  while 
many  more  have  attended  college.  It  is  not 
stated  whether  the  term  college  graduate  im- 
plies a  baccalaureate  degree,  or  whether  grad- 
uates of  other  courses  not  leading  to  such  a 
degree  are  included.  Random  sampling  of  a 
considerable  number  of  cases  shows,  however, 
that  college  graduate  substantially  always 
mean^  the  holding  of  the  A.B.  or  equivalent 
degree,  with  very  often  a  higher  degree  also. 
It  might  be  thought  that  the  liberal  college 
course  was  mainly  confined  to  the  traditional 
learned  professions,  but  this  is  not  entirely  the 
case,  as  the  following  table  shows: 

^  Pages  xix-xxii  of  the  introduction  (1912). 
2  Includes  a  relatively  small  number  of  graduates  of 
the  United  States  military  and  naval  academies. 


no  Social  Environment 


Professions  Represented  in  Who's  Who 

IN  America,  Showing  Percentage  of 

College  Graduates^ 

Per  Cent 
Per  Cent       College 
Profession  of  Total     Graduates 

Lawyers    17.6  52 

Doctors   y,y  4g 

Ministers    1 1.6  81 

Technical : 

agriculturists,  engineers,  etc. ..    6.4  46 

Artists  and  musicians 5.2  10 

Educators    22.*  100* 

Authors  20.*  46* 

Business  men yc*  29* 

Miscellaneous    2  * 

The  correlation  of  a  liberal  college  education 
with  the  attainment  of  distinction  cannot  be 
brought  to  light,  however,  without  using  the 
success  of  non-college  men  as  a  basis  for  com- 
parison. In  order  to  discover  the  latter,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  follow  through  the  statistics  of 
a  single  year  age  group.  For  this  purpose  the 
group  of  persons  now  at  the  "  modal  "  age  have 
been  chosen,  as  at  that  age  the  maximum  of 
attainment  with  the  minimum  of  elimination 

^  Data  from  Who's  Who  in  America  (1912),  except 
starred  items,  which  are  estimates  based  on  random 
samplings  in  the  same  work. 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics     iii 

by  death  occurs.  Without  attempting  to  give 
in  detail  the  method  by  which  the  results  have 
been  reached,^  it  may  be  stated  that  of  persons 
born  in  1861  in  the  United  States  there  were 
living  at  about  the  age  of  college  entrance  a 
little  over  one  million,  of  whom  5,734  gradu- 
ated from  college.  Of  this  number  5>^% 
found  their  way  into  Who's  Who  in  America. 
Of  the  non-college  group  only  0.028%,  or 
about  I  in  3,600,  found  their  way  into  Who's 
Who  in  America.  Comparing  these  ratios,  we 
find  that  the  chances  of  attaining  distinction 
are  196  times  greater  for  the  college  man  than 
for  the  non-college  man.  Or,  put  in  terms  of  a 
correlation,  college  education  and  the  attain- 
ment of  distinction  give  a  coefficient  of  0.98  ±: 
o.ooi.  It  is  evident  that  while  college  educa- 
tion will  not  insure  distinction,  it  is  very  nearly 
a  necessity  for  the  attainment  of  it. 

It  is  sometimes  questioned  whether  college 
education  stands  in  a  causal  relation  to  the  at- 
tainment of  distinction;  or  whether,   on   the 

1  Data  from  age  distribution  (smoothed)  in  census  of 
1880;  Statistical  Abstract  of  U.  S.— Bureau  of  Statistics 
— 191 1,  p.  752;  Bulletin  451,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education — 
Age  and  Grade  Census  of  Schools  and  Colleges,  pp.  138 
fF. ;  and  Who's  Who  in  America — introduction.  The 
computation  is  subject  to  minor  criticisms  on  account  of 
lack  of  definite  data,  but  it  cannot  be  materially  in  error. 


112  Social  Environment 

other  hand,  it  may  not  be  merely  a  tradition 
on  the  part  of  the  capable  and  ambitious.  In 
view  of  the  overwhelming  correlation  of  col- 
lege training  and  success,  it  seems  very  prob- 
able that  the  relation  is  causal.  Of  course  if 
we  had  a  hereditary  aristocracy  that  held  a 
monopoly  on  prominent  positions,  the  theory 
that  college-going  is  merely  a  conventionality 
might  have  some  grounds ;  but  such  is  not  the 
case.  Competition  for  high  places  is  keen ;  the 
sons  of  the  middle  and  lower  classes  enter  the 
race  and  often  win.  In  unconventional  Amer- 
ica, if  there  were  a  shorter  and  easier  way  to 
fame  than  the  way  of  higher  education,  ener- 
getic young  men  would  have  found  it  and 
beaten  it  into  a  highway.  Further,  certain 
items  of  direct  evidence  may  be  adduced.  Slos- 
son^  says  that  fraternity  men  in  a  university 
which  he  regards  as  typical  show  28%  of  fail- 
ures in  scholarship  as  compared  with  12%  for 
non-fraternity  men.  Since  the  fraternities  of 
the  larger  universities  tend  to  be  made  up  of 
the  wealthier  class  of  students,  this  is  evidence 
that  wealth  and  scholarship  are  more  likely  to 
be  related  negatively  than  positively.    Now,  it 

1  Slosson,  E.  E.,  Great  American  Universities,  p.  127. 
The  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York,  1910. 


Social  Enznronment  and  Eugenics    113 

has  been  clearly  shown  that  success  in  college 
goes  with  success  in  later  life.  Van  Dyke,  wnt- 
mgmScrihncr's Magazine  (September,  1912), 
shows  that  50%  of  the  first  honor  men  from 
the  leading  colleges  gain  a  place  in  Who's  Who 
in  America,  while  of  the  second  honor  men 
33%  attain  a  like  place.  As  has  been  shown 
above,  5^%  of  college  men  in  general  attain 
this  distinction.^  Such  evidence  indicates  that 
the  men  who  are  winning  the  prizes  both  in  col- 
lege and  in  after  life  are  in  large  part  from  the 
rising  classes  who  would  be  the  least  likely  of 
all  to  follow  blindly  an  expensive  tradition. 
Considering  again  that  the  chances  in  favor  of 
the  college  man  reach  the  overwhelmingly  high 
ratio  of  196  to  i,  we  cannot  avoid  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  colleges,  in  spite  of  their  admitted 
imperfections,  are  a  very  important  environ- 
mental factor  in  the  attainment  of  eminence. 

A  final  question  that  demands  consideration 
is  whether  the  correlations  that  already  have 
been  set  forth,  may  not  be  explained  —  as 
biologists  claim  Ward's  figures  may  be  ex- 
plained—  by  the  selective  action  of  favorable 
environments.    That  is,  may  not  the  city  have 

1  A  recent  more  complete  study  appears  in  an  article 
entitled  "  Should  Students  Study?  "  by  W.  T.  Foster,  in 
Harper's  Magazine,  Sept.,  1916. 


114  Social  Environment 

acted  as  a  magnet  drawing  to  itself  the  most 
capable  strains  of  the  surrounding  population, 
from  whose  superior  capacity  has  developed  in 
later  generations  the  relatively  high  percentage 
of  noted  men? 

There  is  considerable  evidence  that  such  is 
not  the  case.  To  begin  with,  the  great  cities  of 
the  United  States  are  of  very  recent  growth  ;^ 
the  frontier  of  one  generation  becomes  the 
teeming  urban  region  of  one  or  two  genera- 
tions later,  peopled  by  the  descendants  of  the 
pioneers,  and  by  later  immigrants.  But  the 
selection  hypothesis  requires  a  considerable 
period  through  which  selection  may  do  its 
work  effectively;  for  in  the  first  place  it  must 
be  remembered  that  the  able  young  man  going 
to  the  city  and  there  winning  fame  is  credited 
not  to  the  city  but  to  the  environment  of  his 
birth;  and  in  the  second  place  biological  prin- 
ciples show  that  the  changing  of  the  innate 
characteristics  through  selection  is  only  accom- 
plished laboriously  and  slowly.^  Further,  the 
selection  hypothesis  is  greatly  weakened  by  the 
fact  previously  shown  that  it  is  not  so  much 
the  stock  of  the  great  city  that  is  fertile  in 

^  Abstract  of  Thirteenth  Census,  p.  93. 
2_Castle,  W.  E..  et  al..  Heredity  and  Eugenics.     The 
University  of  Chicago  Press,  Chicago,  1912. 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics     115 

genius  as  the  stock  of  the  adjoining  smaller 
places  and  rural  districts.  There  is  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  the  latter  localities  have  prof- 
ited by  a  selection  process;  rather,  it  is  very 
likely  that  they  have  lost  by  continued  migra- 
tion to  the  city.  And  still  more  conclusive,  as 
affecting  the  present  study,  is  the  fact  that  most 
of  the  migration  from  country  to  city  takes 
place  within  the  limits  of  the  same  state,  or 
neighboring  states.^  Since  the  unit  here  taken 
is  the  state,  and  since,  in  general,  adjoining 
states  do  not  differ  widely  in  density,  such  se- 
lective movements  of  population  could  scarcely 
at  all  affect  our  correlations.  That  is,  the  se- 
lective process  which,  according  to  the  biologi- 
cal theory,  accounts  for  the  superiority  of 
densely  populated  regions  occurs  mainly  within 
the  limits  of  the  units  here  adopted,  causing 
for  each  unit  about  as  much  loss  as  gain,  and 
therefore  not  affecting  materially  its  genetic 
standing. 

The  data  at  hand  can  be  made  to  show 
\vhether  or  not  the  city  draws  from  other  states 
the  men  of  ability  who  attain  fame.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  if  men  who  attain  distinction  have 
been  merely   keeping  pace   with   the  general 

^Abstract  of  Thirteenth  Census,  p.  169. 


ii6  Social  Environment 


movement  of  the  population  westward,  a  cor- 
relation between  density  of  population  and  per- 
centage of  noted  men  now  resident  in  various 
states  should  give  about  the  same  coefficient 
as  the  corresponding  one  based  on  the  place  of 
birth.  If  the  correlation  based  on  residence 
shows  an  Increase  over  that  based  on  birthplace, 
a  tendency  of  noted  men  to  gather  in  densely 
populated  states  is  indicated ;  a  decrease  would 
indicate  the  reverse  tendency.  Now,  the  cor- 
relation for  residence  and  density  when  forty- 
six  states  are  taken  is  0.18  ±0.10;  with  the 
twenty-nine  older  states  it  is  0.64  ±:  0.07. 
These  results  are  on  the  basis  of  Who's  Who 
in  America.  Dr.  Cattell's  list  gives  a  coefficient 
of  0.71  it  0.06.  Compared  with  correspond- 
ing correlations  on  the  basis  of  birthplace,  these 
coefficients  show  a  decrease  of  74 7^  and  11^, 
and  an  increase  of  20%  respectively.  A  de- 
crease, as  shown  above,  indicates  movement  of 
able  men  toward  sparsely  settled  states  in  ex- 
cess of  the  movement  of  the  genera!  population, 
while  the  increase  indicates  the  reverse.  It  may 
be  the  case,  however,  that  the  decided  figure 
given  in  the  first  instance,  where  forty-six 
states  are  dealt  with,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  in 
the  very  new  states  immigrants  rise  without 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics    117 

much  competition  into  official   positions  that 
give  them  merely  an  ex  officio  place  in  Who's 
Who  in  America.    However,  the  percentage  of 
such  persons  who  are  admitted  merely  because 
of  official  position  must  be  very  small  indeed 
and  could  not  very  materially  afifect  the   re- 
sults ^    On  the  other  hand,  the  increase  in  the 
case  of  Dr.  Cattell's  list  of  scientists  is  prob- 
ably due  to  the  fact  that  the  number  of  resi- 
dents is  augmented  15%  by  the  inclusion  of  the 
foreign-born  great  scientists,  who  are  far  more 
likely  to  be  found  in  the  centers  of  population 
than  elsewhere.     Besides,   the  scientist  is  de- 
pendent upon  the  laboratories  and  other  costly 
equipment  met  with  in  cities,  and  that  cannot 
easily  be  taken  into  the  wilderness  as  can,  for 
example,  the  implements  of  the  author.    Hence 
it  is  to  be  expected  that  the  scientist  will  seek 
the  centers  of  population  more  than  will  other 
men  of  note.     On  the  whole,  therefore,  it  is 
clear  that  if  there  is  any  movement  of  noted 
men  in  contrast  with  the  usual  drift  of  popu- 
lation it  is  away  from  rather  than  toward  the 
more  densely  populated  states.    Certainly  there 
can  have  been  no  such  selection  toward  popu- 
lous states  as  would  explain  the  greater  pro- 
1  Who's  Who  in  America,  p.  ix  of  introduction. 


ii8  Social  Environment 

duction  of  noted  men  in  the  latter.  We  are 
forced  to  the  conclusion,  then,  that  the  decided 
correlations  that  have  been  discussed  are  real 
measurements  of  environmental  influences. 

Limited  as  the  foregoing  study  is,  it  never- 
theless indicates  that  the  new  statistical  meth- 
ods of  the  biometrician  and  the  eugenist  may 
be  also  useful  to  the  sociologist,  and  that  the 
whole  story  is  not  told  when  the  influence  of 
heredity  is  traced.  Society  evidently  involves 
an  interaction  of  physical  and  social  forces, 
intertwining  in  bewildering  complexity.  And 
we  find  no  reason  for  giving  up  the  sociological 
view  of  society  as  predominantly  a  psychologi- 
cal fact ;  rather  do  we  find  it  the  more  securely 
established.  Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  there 
appears  no  reason  to  question  the  ultimate  value 
of  the  data  that  biologists  are  advancing  as  to 
the  nature  of  heredity.  It  should  be  clearly 
recognized  that  a  science  of  eugenics  controlled 
by  social  aims  and  in  harmony  with  the  broad- 
est ethics  is  of  the  most  fundamental  impor- 
tance. Most  present-day  evils  ultimately  hark 
back  to  the  workings  of  natural  selection,  being 
but  various  phases  of  the  cruel  and  wasteful 
struggle  that  nature  imposes  on  her  offspring. 
Artificial    selection    must    eventually    replace 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics     119 

natural  selection  as  the  natural  social  forces  are 
brought  under  control.  The  peace,  order,  and 
improvement  that  come  to  domesticated  animal 
and  plant  life  on  a  well-ordered  farm  will  yet 
be  gained  by  humanity  as  gradually,  with  a 
widening  intelligence,  a  social  consciousness 
achieves  rational  freedom. 

4.  Social  Standards  for  Eugenics 

Sociology,  then,  does  not  attack  eugenics, 
but  only  insists  on  the  erection  of  social  stand- 
ards in  connection  with  the  definition  of  the 
fittest.  And  in  so  doing  it  merely  continues  the 
demand  that  the  social  spirit  has  asserted  from 
the  first;  namely,  that  a  person  shall  be  re- 
garded as  good  not  in  accordance  with  his 
ability  to  further  his  own  interests,  but  in  ac- 
cordance with  his  willingness  and  ability  to 
cooperate  in  group  life.  Measured  by  social 
standards  many  of  the  world's  successful  must 
give  place  to  the  humble,  and  the  last  may  again 
be  first.  In  the  rush  of  militarism  and  com- 
mercialism social  standards  have  been  sub- 
merged, and  the  worldly-minded  revert  to  the 
natural  standards  of  success.  This  tendency  is 
often  reflected  among  the  eugenists,  as,  for 
example,  when  a  recent  writer  in  a  popular 


I20  Social  Environment 

magazine  calmly  classified  the  unsuccessful  as 
feeble-minded  on  the  ground  that  life  is  the 
most  comprehensive  test  of  mentality.^  Such 
an  attitude  shows  an  utter  blindness  to  the 
unsocial  spirit  of  commercialized  society,  where 
success  so  often  means  simply  the  monopoliza- 
tion of  property  by  which  revenues  may  be 
wrung  from  the  unsuccessful.  Capitalistic 
property  is  not  essentially  different  from  feudal 
property,  and  its  ownership  by  no  means  guar- 
antees service.  The  eugenist  who  regards  com- 
mercial success  as  the  standard  toward  which 
society  should  breed  apparently  has  in  mind  as 
an  ideal  a  nation  composed  only  of  cultured 
bondholders.  What  an  admirable  solution  of 
the  labor  problem ! 

One  cannot  but  commend  the  efforts  of  the 
eugenists  to  discourage  the  propagation  of  the 
seriously  defective  classes.  Such  a  policy  is 
both  humane  and  enlightened.  But  in  the  op- 
position they  so  commonly  evince  toward  social 
legislation  they  pervert  their  reasoning  and 
prostitute  their  science  to  exploiting  interests. 
Laws  to  protect  the  toiler  against  destructive 
competition  are  merely  the  modern  correlative 

iGesell,   "The   Village   of   a   Thousand    Souls,"  the 
American  Magazine,  Vol.  76,  p.  12. 


Social  Environment  and  Eugenics     121 

of  primitive  customs  expressive  of  the  blood 
bond,  by  which  the  individually  weak  were 
welded  into  the  socially  strong  group.  And 
such  measures  are  in  reality  the  most  practi- 
cable eugenic  measures.  If  society  is  to  con- 
tinue it  must  devise  means  to  perpetuate  the 
lives  and  homes  of  the  productive  and  the  so- 
cially minded  against  those  who  are  examples 
of  the  natural  standard  of  success  in  their  abil- 
ity to  take.  The  natural  standard  readily 
asserts  itself  in  the  hisses  faire  of  the  market 
and  the  battlefield;  social  standards  can  be 
maintained  only  by  the  persistent  effort  of  the 
social  mind. 

Evolution  has  always  been  sympodial;  each 
succeeding  age  has  been  a  judgment  day  that 
pulled  down  the  mighty  and  exalted  them  of 
low  degree.  The  giant  ferns,  the  dinosaurs, 
and  the  mastodons  have  their  day  at  the  pin- 
nacle of  creation,  then  disappear  in  favor  of 
some  insignificant  competitor.  So  when  the 
present-day  lust  of  greed  and  blood  shall  have 
spent  itself,  it  may  be  found  that  the  kingdom 
of  the  future  belongs  to  some  of  the  despised 
and  the  rejected.  Who  are  the  fittest  ?  Is  the 
standard  of  the  jungle  or  the  standard  of  the 
gospels  to  be  applied? 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   OUTLOOK   FOR   SOCIAL   ORGANIZATION 

COMPARED  with  the  remarkable  material 
achievements  of  modern  times,  the  social 
conditions  of  mankind  are  a  cause  for  pro- 
found pessimism.  Though  weahh  and  the  pos- 
sibility of  producing  wealth  have  marvelously 
increased,  yet  misery  and  the  fear  of  poverty 
abound,  and  greed,  fraud,  and  brute  force  are 
still  unchained.  There  is  a  widespread  cult  of 
optimism,  it  is  true,  which  bids  us  always  look 
on  the  bright  side,  and  asserts  that  prosperity 
will  stay  with  us  permanently  so  long  as  we 
think  prosperity.  But  second  thought  suffices 
to  show  that  the  inspiration  of  this  commercial- 
ized optimism  is  the  greed  of  speculators  who 
wish  to  still  further  inflate  exploitive  property 
values.  It  is  also  evident  that  prosperity  re- 
quires appropriate  social  organization,  just  as 
the  utilization  of  steam  and  electricity  requires 
pistons,  rods,  and  wire  in  suitable  adjustment. 
There  is  no  more  reason  to  think  that  ideals  of 
social  well-being  could  be  made  to  work  by 

122 


Outlook  for  Social  Organization      12^ 

mere  announcement,  than  that  the  lighting  tan 
be  utiHzed  by  verbally  calling  upon  it.  Yet  the 
disposition  of  society  to  move  seriously  under 
scientific  leadership  toward  the  goal  of  social 
organization  is  a  feeble  thing  as  compared  to 
the  pressure  of  individual  and  class  greed  in 
the  free  pursuit  of  commercial  profits.  Mate- 
rially, we  may  boast  a  degree  of  attainment; 
socially,  we  still  linger  close  to  the  stone  age. 
And  so  long  as  the  present  ignorance  and  indif- 
ference persist  must  we  expect  poverty,  class 
conflict,  and  world  war. 

/.   The  Perspective  of  History 

In  the  face  of  modern  indifference  to  social 
truth,  the  philosophic  mind  seeks  refuge  in  the 
large  view  of  progress  as  seen  in  historical 
perspective.  Across  the  screen  of  history  the 
unfolding  drama  of  life  assumes  a  continuity 
and  consistency  that  we  fail  to  find  when  im- 
mersed in  the  problems  of  our  own  age.  Like 
great  waves  empire  has  succeeded  empire  and 
nation  has  struggled  against  nation,  each  pass- 
ing its  crest  and  subsiding  toward  decay  or 
ordered  freedom,  only  to  be  engulfed  by  an- 
other tide  of  despotism,   until   we  reach  the 


124  Social  Environment 

money  empires  of  the  present.  Yet  the  brute 
force  and  cunning  that  forever  triumph  prove 
on  investigation  to  be  a  derivative  of  the  in- 
w^ard  spiritual  strength  of  social  organization 
—  a  statement  that  is  more  than  ever  true 
today. 

In  the  inevitable  clash  of  international  inter- 
ests the  nation  which  evolves  the  best  ordered 
cooperation,  appealing  to  the  loyalty  of  its 
people  and  maturing  their  serviceable  talents, 
insures  the  industrial  ability  upon  which  war- 
like strength  no  less  than  peaceful  prosperity 
depends.  The  nation  that  succeeds  best  in 
achieving  that  vital  democratic  cooperation 
which  is  the  essence  of  Christian  idealism  will, 
in  the  event  of  war,  have  the  added  strength  of 
appealing  to  the  popular  interests  as  against 
the  aristocratic  strength  of  opposing  nations, 
thus  paralyzing  resistance  as  did  the  French 
armies  in  the  early  days  of  the  Napoleonic 
wars.  So  in  the  future  as  in  the  past  the  dice 
of  the  gods  will  be  loaded  in  favor  of  social 
organization,  and  the  class  and  national  con- 
flicts of  the  present  day  must  eventually  issue 
into  the  broad  ocean  of  world  socialization,  in 
which  freedom  will  have  become  harmonized 
in  law.     Taking  the  long  view,  we  may  learn 


Outlook  for  Social  Organination      125 


something  of  that  patience  by  which  Nature 
climbs  through  suffering  to  her  goal. 

2.  The  Basis  of  Improvement 

But  no  one  can  be  content  thus  to  withdraw 
except  temporarily  from  the  more  pressing 
problems  of  the  day.  The  mind  which  has  been 
awakened  by  the  social  conscience  demands  a 
task  that  shall  contribute,  how^ever  slightly  and 
slowly,  toward  universal  righteousness.  We 
cherish  a  reasonable  faith  that  the  ends  of  evo- 
lution may  be  materially  hastened ;  that,  indeed, 
only  by  participation  can  progress  be  attained 
at  all,  since  intelligent  effort  is  now  the  prime 
agent  of  evolution.  Yet  the  practical  answer 
to  the  question  of  what  to  do  is  not  an  easy 
one.  Only  by  pointing  out  certain  general 
policies  may  an  answer  be  suggested. 

The  policies  that  will  intelligently  further 
social  progress  must,  in  the  first  place,  be  based 
on  a  realization  of  what  present  society  is,  in 
both  its  good  and  its  evil  aspects.  Commer- 
cialism and  militarism  are  a  part  of  the  struc- 
ture of  society  as  it  now  exists.  They  cannot 
be  banished  by  an  edict.  Worldly  wisdom 
adapted  to  actual  emergencies  must  rule  in  the 
everyday  affairs  of  life,  even  while  the  saints 


126  Social  Environment 

are  ushering  in  the  kingdom.  An  understand- 
ing of  the  unsocial  spirit  of  the  world  is  good, 
but  wholesale  denunciation  will  accomplish  lit- 
tle that  is  worth  while.  Patience,  tolerance,  a 
willingness  to  cooperate,  and  a  blending  of  the 
practical  with  the  ideal  are  essentials  of  useful 
character.  Certainly  the  broad-minded  view 
will  avoid  the  common  error  of  thinking  that 
justice  will  be  attained  simply  through  the  vic- 
tory of  one  social  class  over  another.  A  change 
of  masters  is  very  acceptable  to  the  new  mas- 
ters, but  not  always  so  advantageous  to  the 
public.  The  appeal  of  the  future  is  not  to  any 
economic  class,  but  to  the  men  of  vision,  to 
the  disinterested  and  idealistic  in  all  classes. 
Progress  may  mean  the  disciplining  of  some 
classes,  but  it  will  mean  primarily  the  rule  of 
social  intelligence  and  conscience  wheresoever 
uttered. 

J.  The  Force  of  Idealism 

Above  everything  else,  the  person  who  wants 
to  contribute  to  his  times  will  foster  idealism. 
No  inheritance  is  so  precious  to  the  world  as 
the  vision  of  righteousness.  Beauty  in  form, 
color,  and  sound  are  allied  to  it;  truth  is  its 
weapon;  but  righteousness  itself  is  the  soul  of 


Outlook  for  Social  Organisation     127 


society,  and  the  ideal  of  righteousness  is  the 
dynamic  of  progress.  That  ideal  expressed  in 
the  symbols  of  religion  and  art  is  the  compel- 
ling spirit  which  persuades  men  into  self-sacri- 
ficing cooperation,  and  is  quite  another  thing 
from  the  concept  of  legality.  The  civil  court 
of  so-called  justice  where  interest  contends 
against  interest  according  to  the  ancient  rules 
of  the  game  has  about  the  same  relation  to  the 
vital  justice  of  intelligent  sympathy  as  has  the 
divorce  court  to  the  ideal  home.  Western  civ- 
ilization formally  professes  as  its  standard  of 
righteousness  the  sublime  story  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  whose  life  and  teachings  constitute 
probably  the  purest  expression  yet  achieved  of 
social  idealism.  Though  many  upright  souls 
shun  the  gospel  because  of  the  shameless  com- 
mercialism to  which  it  has  been  subjected,  yet 
it  stands  today  as  the  most  conspicuous  reser- 
voir of  spiritual  power. 

But  unfortunately  the  worst  exploiters  are 
pious  Christians,  and  their  urging  of  non- 
resisting  brotherly  love  on  the  sheep  they  shear 
has  become  a  byword.  What  is  desperately 
needed  at  the  present  time  is  a  clear  and  force- 
ful realization  of  the  tremendous  gap  between 
our  idealism  and  our  deeds.     The   force  of 


128  Social  Environment 

idealism  lies  in  its  application,  and  the  applica- 
tion requires  scientific  vision  Men  live  in  a 
haze  of  ignorance  because  they  think  in  terms 
of  self-interest,  and  sanctify  shrewdness  as 
service.  Those  German  writers  who  have  in 
the  last  generation  declaimed  with  such  crusad- 
ing zeal  against  the  baseness  of  Anglo-Saxon 
commercialism  are  right,  though  they  may  in- 
cidentally have  overlooked  a  beam  or  two  in 
their  own  eyes.  The  money-making  ideal  which 
flourishes  so  luxuriantly  in  England  and  Amer- 
ica is  a  hypocritical  fraud,  a  half-truth  more 
dangerous  than  an  open  lie,  an  enemy  that 
Christianity  has  fought  and  must  again  fight 
if  it  vi^ould  not  itself  be  a  fraud.  Not  that 
religion  means  asceticism;  abundance  of  life  in 
a  material  sense  is  a  worthy  ideal.  The  con- 
demnation of  wealth  lies  in  its  nature  as  the 
privilege  of  ownership  divorced  from  use  —  a 
privilege  on  which  leisure-class  aristocracy  is 
based  and  which  is  morally  unjustifiable.  Be- 
cause their  spirit  is  greedy,  men  will  not  see 
that  coiled  about  the  legitimate  stewardship, 
which  is  an  unquestioned  phase  of  business 
activity,  is  the  vicious  seeking  for  property  be- 
cause of  its  revenues,  which  we  cover  with  the 
euphonious  phrase  of  "supplying  the  capital." 


Outlook  for  Social  Organization      129 


The  same  principle  that  we  condemn  elsewhere 
as  "  absentee  landlordism  "  rules  rampant  under 
our  unrestrained  capitalism  throughout  the 
whole  field  of  our  vast  industrial  properties. 
The  plain  fact  is  that  the  properties  of  society 
are  desperately  battled  for  as  "  investments  "  by 
men  whose  one  aim  is  to  make  them  furnish 
the  greatest  possible  revenue,  and  in  the  result- 
ing scramble  social  values  and  public  welfare 
are  forgotten.  Though  it  is  true  that  we  can- 
not change  our  institutions  quickly,  yet  there 
can  be  no  moral  health  while  conscience  slum- 
beringly  concurs  in  the  standards  of  the  mar- 
ket and  is  deceived  by  Mammon  wearing  the 
livery  of  Christ.  The  Great  War  is  in  a  large 
measure  the  result  of  the  accumulated  greed 
of  the  Christian  nations  clashing  in  their  pro- 
fessed desire  to  "serve"  the  undeveloped 
peoples  by  trade  and  investment.  We  cherish 
the  delusion  that  we  in  America  are  different 
in  organization  and  motive,  though  as  a  matter 
of  fact  we  stand  as  the  most  conspicuous 
example  of  laissez-faire  commercialism.  The 
reckoning  for  our  worship  of  money  lies  ahead, 
in  the  form  of  urgent  domestic  and  foreign 
problems.  Only  in  sober  realization  of  facts, 
and  in  the  willingness  to  move  in  the  direc- 


130  Social  Environment 

tion  of  practicable  progress  can  we  achieve 
salvation. 

4.  Regulation  of  Economic  Freedom 

The  immediate  future  will  demand  less  of 
the  riotous  freedom  of  the  past  and  more  disci- 
pline under  expert  leadership.  It  is  true  that 
the  attractive  ideal  of  freedom  miay  theoreti- 
cally be  workable,  and  perhaps  in  the  distant 
future  when  ethical  intelligence  has  been 
reached  it  will  become  practicable.  Society 
today  is  like  a  crowd  in  a  theater  startled  into 
a  mob  by  the  cry  of  fire.  The  fear  of  poverty 
and  the  desire  for  economic  independence  cause 
a  rush  for  the  possession  of  property  under 
which  legitimate  business  is  stifled  and  the  un- 
aggressively  useful  are  trampled  underfoot.  If 
men  actually  lived  in  the  spirit  of  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  there  could  be  no  such  thing  as 
the  ownership  of  property  apart  from  its  social 
use;  capitalization  and  the  consequent  exploita- 
tion of  the  useful  by  the  aggressive  would  dis- 
appear; the  instinct  of  mutual  service  through 
artistic  workmanship  would  find  expression; 
and  organized  regulative  and  charitable  pro- 
grams would  be  rendered  unnecessary.  Man 
would  take  no  thought  for  the  morrow,  nor 


Outlook  for  Social  Organization      131 

would  he  erect  leisure-class  aristocracies  by 
laying  up  treasures  on  earth,  but  expressing  his 
constructive  fraternal  nature  he  would  give  as 
freely  as  through  the  inheritance  of  the  ages 
and  the  cooperation  of  his  fellows  he  had  re- 
ceived. Thus  would  treasure  be  laid  up  in  an 
actual  heaven  of  harmonized  human  relations. 
This  is  the  ideal  which  is  urging  itself  upon 
man,  and  which  finds  some  sheltered  flowering 
in  the  family  and  community  life,  but  which 
is  as  yet  a  stranger  to  the  world  of  govern- 
ment, of  finance,  and  of  international  relations. 
So  in  a  world  where  the  finer  things  of  life  are 
trampled  down,  we  can  only  hope  to  check  the 
mob  spirit  by  enforcing  a  lock  step  until  the 
panic  is  quelled  and  the  spiritual  nature  has  a 
chance  to  grow. 

The  new  order,  if  it  is  wise  enough  to  escape 
the  anarchy  of  forcible  expropriation,  will  ac- 
cept the  fact  of  the  present  supremacy  of 
capital,  but  it  will  hope  to  modify  the  adminis- 
tration of  capital  from  irresponsible  privilege 
toward  restrained  service.  The  energy  and 
administrative  ability  that  are  today  building 
predatory  trusts  will  be  enlisted,  as  far  as  may 
be,  in  the  interests  of  the  public.  This  end 
will  be  more  feasible  under  the  control  of  a 


132  Social  Environment 

few  conspicuous  captains  of  industry  than 
under  the  control  of  a  large  group  of  strug- 
gling, competing  profit-seekers.  As  the  king 
under  feudalism  became  the  champion  of  the 
people  against  his  turbulent  nobles,  so  the  kings 
of  finance  will  find  it  to  their  interest  to  pro- 
mote the  welfare  of  the  masses  who  both  pro- 
duce for  them  and  constitute  their  markets. 
Civil  government  will  doubtless  continue  to  act 
as  a  mediating  agency  between  the  people  and 
their  economic  rulers,  though  in  view  of  the 
power  of  money  to  manufacture  public  opin- 
ion and  to  direct  elections  there  is  little  to 
encourage  optimism  in  the  immediate  outlook 
for  democracy.  Laissez-faire  policies  have  re- 
duced government  to  an  inconspicuous  role 
from  which  it  cannot  quickly  emerge,  and 
capital  is  likely  to  be  the  real  source  of  power 
for  some  time  to  come. 

5.  Social  Legislation 

Civil  government  will,  however,  furnish  an 
important  fulcrum  in  the  furtherance  of  vari- 
ous schemes  for  mitigating  the  evils  of  capi- 
talism, such  as  industrial  insurance  against 
incapacity  and  unemployment,  control  of  hours 
and  conditions  of  work,  scientific  wage  and 


Outlook  for  Social  Organization     133 


price  regulation,  and  the  arbitration  of  labor 
disputes.  This  program  of  constructive  reform, 
already  well  advanced  in  other  countries,  has 
been  held  back  in  the  United  States  by  the 
unique  power  of  the  courts  to  block  legislation. 
In  conformity  with  our  obsession  in  favor  of 
private  initiative,  much  of  it  is  now  developing 
under  the  arbitrary  control  of  the  great  busi- 
ness feudatories;  but  even  so  it  will  be  an 
advance,  and  under  later  standardization  by 
government  may  accomplish  the  ends  sought. 
The  fundamental  value  of  such  reform  meas- 
ures need  hardly  be  urged  after  the  survey  we 
have  already  made  of  the  nature  of  society. 
They  constitute  the  logical  and  practicable  first 
step  out  of  the  anarchy  of  laissez-faire  compe- 
tition. A  few  of  the  advantages  may,  how- 
ever, be  briefly  pointed  out. 

Social  legislation  will  do  much  to  lessen  the 
greed  for  the  speculative  ownership  of  prop- 
erty that  now  so  inflates  values  and  hampers 
business  by  the  dead  weight  of  parasitical 
capital.  As  things  are  now,  the  producer  has 
little  incentive  to  take  pleasure  in  his  work  and 
to  become  an  artistic  workman,  since  his  posi- 
tion is  cruelly  insecure  unless  he  can  amass 
considerable  property.     Safeguarded  by  insur- 


134  Social  Environment 


ance  and  other  devices,  he  will  not  be  compelled 
to  attempt  the  unfamiliar  specialization  of  in- 
vestment and  property  management  in  an 
endeavor  to  secure  economic  safety.  With  thje 
basement  of  society  cleared  of  its  wretched 
slums,  with  defectives  scientifically  cared  for 
and  the  weaker  protected,  the  frantic  desire 
to  rise  to  a  leisure-class  position  will  some- 
what give  way  to  an  endeavor  to  excel  in  a 
chosen  vocation.  As  a  result,  property  will 
tend  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  real  business 
manager  rather  than  the  speculator,  and  the 
burden  of  capitalization  will  diminish. 

A  further  important  advantage  will  be  de- 
rived from  the  weight  of  taxation  that  will  be 
thrown  upon  property.  This  will  relieve  the 
pressure  of  unemployed  capital  that  in  its 
eagerness  to  exploit  foreign  fields  is  now  the 
most  fruitful  cause  for  war,  and  by  expanding 
the  spending  power  of  the  public  will  increase 
home  markets.  Through  the  governmental 
machinery  that  must  be  built  up  it  will  even- 
tually be  possible  to  bring  about  an  adjustment 
between  the.  social  income  that  is  expended  in 
real  capitalization  on  the  one  hand  and  in  con- 
sumption on  the  other,  so  as  to  prevent  the 
inflation  of  speculative  property  values  and  the 


Outlook  for  Social  Organisation     135 


underconsumption  that  lead  to  industrial  stag- 
nation. 

We  can  but  mention  one  phase  of  the  organ- 
ization of  the  social  environment  that  is  of  the 
most  fundamental  importance;  namely,  the 
socialization  of  education.  The  school  system 
of  the  present  is  narrow,  inadequate,  ill  ad- 
justed to  its  task.  It  prepares  principally  for 
a  few  so-called  learned  professions,  or  for  the 
culture  of  the  leisure  classes.  It  must  be 
enlarged  and  diversified  so  as  to  "produce 
trained  workers  in  all  the  varied  specializa- 
tions of  society,  as  well  as  to  give  the  physical, 
artistic,  and  moral  training  that  is  necessary 
for  complete  living.  In  the  discovering  of 
talent  it  will  serve,  as  it  has  to  a  considerable 
degree  in  the  past,  as  an  important  means  of 
making  that  talent  effective,  and  so  of  partly 
neutralizing  class  lines.  It  will  be  the  principal 
means  of  bringing  the  individual  into  vital 
relations  with  the  social  heritage. 

6.  Expert  Leadership 

Finally,  scientific  social  organization  will 
produce,  and  is  already  beginning  to  produce, 
a  new  type  of  leader.  The  trained  expert, 
knowing   the    facts   of    society   and   alive   to 


136  Social  Environment 

dynamic  ideals,  will  eventually  give  to  the 
blind,  blundering  civilization  of  today  an  in- 
telligent leadership.  The  present  custom  of 
looking  to  captains  of  industry  and  their  polit- 
ical hangers-on  for  direction  is  perhaps  more 
dangerous  than  the  ascendency  of  feudal  aris- 
tocracies. Business  tends  to  unfit  for  leader- 
ship because  the  pursuit  of  individual  profits 
is  the  element  in  society  that  most  of  all  needs 
regulating.  The  business  man  is  trained  in 
keen  competition  to  struggle  for  his  own  ad- 
vantage; his  most  natural  thought  in  legisla- 
tion is  for  tariffs  and  similar  weapons  that 
will  give  him  success  over  his  competitors  and 
exploitive  power  over  worker  and  consumer. 
To  look  to  him  for  far-sighted  direction  is  as 
absurd  as  to  appoint  a  prize  fighter  referee 
over  his  own  match.  Society  must  therefore 
develop  from  its  most  gifted  youth  a  broadly 
trained  group  of  leaders,  recruited  through 
education  from  all  classes  on  the  basis  of 
merit,  who  shall  fill  the  posts  of  legislative 
and  administrative  experts  in  the  widened  civil 
service  of  the  future.  In  touch  with  modern 
conditions  and  problems,  kept  free  by  reason- 
able salaries  and  insurance  benefits  from  the 
temptation  to  amass  wealth,  they  will  come  to 


Outlook  for  Social  Organisation     137 

form  a  new  priesthood  of  science  through 
whom  worthy  and  intelligent  ideals  may  be 
put  into  practice. 

But,  after  all,  it  is  impossible  to  foresee 
the  details  of  the  socialization  of  the  future. 
Probably  society,  now  so  unstable,  will  even- 
tually go  through  radical  transformations.  The 
attempt  has  here  been  made  merely  to  show 
that  the  narrowly  biological  views  so  widely 
held  are  dangerously  destructive,  while  the 
working  out  of  social  ideals  in  the  spirit  of 
religion  and  with  a  scientific  regard  for  truth 
is  the  pathway  leading  from  threatening  evils 
into  the  promised  land  of  abundant  life.  West- 
ern civilization  is  faced  with  the  somewhat 
alarming  necessity  of  actually  becoming  Chris- 
tian in  its  everyday  affairs ! 


APPENDIX 

CORRELATIONS  FROM  TABLE  L  SPEARMAN 
METHOD,  BUT  COEFFICIENT  CONVERTED 
TO  PEARSON'S  "r."     (Letters  refer  to  specified 


columns  in  table.) 

I. 

A&B, 

0.60  ±  0.08 

25. 

H&K, 

0.60  ±  0.08 

2. 

C&E, 

0.88  ±  0.03 

26. 

H&L, 

0.96  ±  O.OI 

3. 

C&G, 

0.72  ±  0.06 

27. 

I&R, 

0.96  ±  O.OI 

4. 

C&L, 

0.89  ±  0.03 

28. 

I&X, 

0.89  ±  0.03 

5- 

D&H, 

0.74  ±  0.06 

29. 

K&R, 

0.96  ±  O.OI 

6. 

D&I, 

0.75  ±  0.05 

30. 

K&Z, 

0.75  ±  0.06 

7- 

D&J, 

0.59  ±  0.08 

31. 

L&T, 

0.86  ±  0.03 

8. 

D&K, 

0.77  ±  cos 

32. 

M&N, 

0.69  ±  0.09 

9- 

D&L, 

0.84  ±  0.04 

33- 

m&n, 

0.55  ±0.11 

ID. 

E&G, 

0.66  ±  0.07 

34- 

O&P, 

0.76  ±  0.05 

II. 

E&H, 

0.77  ±  0.05 

35- 

O&Z, 

0.65  ±  0.07 

12. 

E&K, 

0.86  ±  0.03 

36. 

P&R, 

0.43  ±  O.IO 

13. 

E&L, 

0.76  ±  0.0s 

37- 

Q&R, 

0.78  ±  0.05 

14. 

F&G, 

0.59  ±  O.IO 

38. 

Q&S, 

0.72  ±  0.06 

15- 

F&H, 

0.74  ±  0.06 

39- 

Q&T, 

0.82  ±  0.04 

16. 

F&K, 

0.93  ±  0.02 

40. 

R&X, 

0.94  ±  O.OI 

17. 

F&L, 

0.80  ±  0.05 

41. 

R&Z, 

0.80  ±  0.05 

18. 

F&U. 

0.87  ±:  0.03 

42. 

S&T, 

0.75  ±  0.06 

19. 

G&I 

0.35  ±0.11 

43- 

U&V, 

0.71  ±  0.06 

20. 

G&K, 

0.46  ±0.10 

44- 

W&X, 

0.34  ±0.11 

21. 

G&P, 

0.97  ±  O.OI 

45. 

W&Y, 

0.64  ±  0.07 

22. 

G&S. 

0.94  ±  O.OI 

46. 

w&z, 

0.45  ±  O.IO 

23- 

G&W, 

0.91  ±  0.02 

47- 

Y&Z, 

0.78  ±  0.05 

24. 

H&I, 

0.47  ±  O.IO 

138 


STATISTICAL  SUMMARY  -  RANKING  OF      IT 


1850 

I860 

w 

u 

o 

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7 

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10 

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TES   IN   SPECIFIED   ENVIRONMENTAL  FACTORS 

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IS 

Appendix  139 


EXPLANATIONS: 

A.  Based  on  Who's  Who  in  America  (Chicago,  1912), 
see  p.  xxiii.  Number  of  living  noted  persons  born  in 
each  state  (irrespective  of  date  of  birth)  divided  by  the 
population  of  the  state  according  to  the  census  of  1850. 
States  then  ranked  from  highest  to  lowest.  This  census 
was  more  than  a  decade  earher  than  the  average  age  of 
the  noted  persons,  but  the  computation  was  made  for 
purposes  of  comparison. 

B.  The  census  gives  the  density  of  population  in  each 
state  for  each  decade.  See  Statistical  Abstract  of  the 
United  States,  191 1,  pp.  52-53  (Bureau  of  Statistics, 
Washington).  The  census  figures  for  1850  have  been 
ranked,  as  above. 

C.  Same  as  A  except  based  on  census  of  i860. 

D.  Same  as  A  except  based  on  census  figures  for  white 
population  in  i860.  See  Statistical  Abstract  of  the 
United  States,  1909,  pp.  46-52  (Bureau  of  Statistics, 
Washington). 

E.  Based  on  Who's  Who  in  Science.  (Macmillan, 
1910.)  A  selection  was  made  of  all  scientists  born  in 
the  United  States  between  1850  and  1870.  These  were 
classified  by  state  of  birth,  and  the  number  for  each 
state  was  divided  by  the  population  of  the  state  in  i860. 
The  ranking  was  then  made  as  in  other  cases. 

F.  Out  of  a  large  list  of  noted  American  scientists  Dr. 
Cattell  has  selected  with  the  greatest  care  the  1,000  most 
prominent.  From  this  1,000  he  has  selected  the  867  native- 
born,  classified  them  by  state  of  birth,  and  divided  the 
number  for  each  state  by  the  population  of  the  state  in 
i860.  He  also  makes  a  tentative  comparison  with  density 
of  population,  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  though  he  does 
not  push  the  investigation  very  far,  he  suggests  practi- 
cally the  same  conclusion  as  that  arrived  at  in  this  study. 
See  Cattell,  American  Men  of  Science,  pp.  553-559.  On 
p.  554  will  be  found  the  table  from  which  the  rankings  in 
Column  F  have  been  prepared. 


140  Appendix 


G.  Same  as  B  except  based  on  census  of  i860. 

H.  White  population  (as  in  D)  for  each  state  divided 
by  area  of  state,  and  results  ranked. 

I.  Not  given  directly  in  the  census  of  i860,  but  easily 
arrived  at  from  the  figures  on  illiteracy  there  given. 

J.  Total  school  attendance  for  each  state  was  divided 
by  the  age  group  5-15.  White  population  only.  Census 
of  i860. 

K.  The  two  preceding  measures  of  elementary  educa- 
tion were  combined  by  multiplying  the  per  ceni  of  literacy 
by  the  average  school  attendance  for  each  state,  and  the 
resulting  abstract  index  figures  were  ranked. 

L.  The  capital  invested  in  manufacturing  in  each  state 
was  divided  by  the  area  of  the  state,  and  the  results 
ranked.    Figures  from  the  census  of  i860. 

M,  N,  m,  n.  In  these  columns  the  data  used  in  prepar- 
ing columns  D  and  H  were  reranked  for  specified  groups 
of  states.  The  object  was  to  discover  whether  the  corre- 
lations previously  found  were  due  mainly  to  differences 
between  North  and  South,  or  between  East  and  West,  or 
both. 

O,  P.  Same  as  A  and  B  except  based  on  census  of  1870. 

Q.  Same  as  A  except  based  on  census  of  1880. 

R.  Based  on  census  figures  for  illiteracy  of  native 
whites. 

S.  Same  as  A,  except  based  on  census  of  1890. 

T.  Based  on  census  figures  for  per  cent  of  urban  popu- 
lation, by  states. 

U.  Prepared  from  same  source  and  in  same  waj  as 
under  column  F,  except  that  here  the  classification  i-*  on 
the  basis  of  the  state  of  residence  in  1900. 

V,  W.  Same  as  B  except  based  on  censuses  of  1900  and 
1910  respectively. 


Appendix  141 


X.  Based  on  census  figures  for  illiteracy  of  native 
whites. 

Y.  Number  of  noted  men  resident  in  each  state  has 
been  divided  by  the  population  of  the  state.  Data  from 
Who's  IV ho  in  America,  p.  xxiii  of  introduction,  and 
census  of  1910. 

Z.  Based  on  the  ranking  of  the  states  in  puMic  educa- 
tion according  to  the  Russell  Sage  Foundation  investiga- 
tion. See  Russell  Sage  Foundation  pamphlet  No.  124  — 
A  Comparative  Study  of  Public  School  Systems  in  the 
Forty-eight  States.    New  York,  1912. 

Note:  Specific  references  have  not  been  given  to  the 
most  accessible  census  material,  inasmuch  as  it  is  readily 
found  through  the  census  indexes. 

For  methods  of  computation  see  Whipple,  Manual  of 
Mental  and  Physical  Tests,  Chapter  3.  The  fraction  yz 
appearing  in  the  tables  is  due  to  the  method  of  handling 
ties,  as  explained  in  Whipple's  manual.  The  Spearman 
method  of  computing  correlation  has  been  employed,  but 
the  Spearman  value  has  been  reduced  to  the  correspond- 
ing Pearson  value  by  means  of  tables  which  Whipple 
gives.  The  Spearman  method  has  been  criticized  as  inac- 
curate in  negative  values,  but  the  criticism  has  no  applica- 
tion in  the  present  case.  The  method  has  been  checked 
in  one  or  two  instances  by  the  computation  of  the  Pearson 
products-moment  coefficient,  based  not  on  the  rankings 
but  on  the  values  from  which  the  rankings  are  taken,  and 
in  many  cases  the  Pearson  method  of  rank  differences 
was  used.  Another  method  employed  as  a  check  was  one 
in  which  the  states  were  "  weighted  "  so  as  to  give  force 
to  each  in  proportion  to  its  population.  In  nearly  every 
case  it  was  found  that  the  result  by  the  more  precise 
method  was  a  little  more  striking  than  the  result  by  the 
Spearman  method. 

It  may  also  be  worthy  of  note  that  the  values  on  which 
the  rankings  are  based  show  very  decided  differences. 
For  example,  in  column  A,  the  first  rank  is  6.7  times 
greater  than  the  last  rank;  in  column  B  it  is  86.5  times 
greater ;  in  column  C  it  is  14.3  times  greater,  etc. 


142  Appendix 


TABLE 

II 

e 
5^u 

C  u 

0    tt„ 

.  07  0) 

c 

4) 

.  «-  0  re 

0 

.t;  2  - 

•  oft: 

uohS 

0(2  a 

WW  2 

Ala. 

33 

39 

24 

23 

46 

Ariz. 

42 

15 

44>4 

44 

29 

Ark. 

43 

45 

29 

28 

41 

Cal. 

16 

6 

32 

34 

4 

Col. 

30 

7 

40 

38 

9 

Conn. 

3 

3 

4 

4 

5 

Del. 

8 

II 

9 

9 

33 

Fla. 

39 

35 

33 

36 

32 

Ga. 

36 

43 

23 

21 

42 

Ida. 

24 

24 

42 

41 

18 

111. 

18 

12 

II 

10 

8 

Ind. 

17 

29 

10 

II 

ID 

la. 

23 

34 

20 

24 

20 

Kan. 

31 

32 

31 

31 

24 

Ky. 

26 

36 

14 

12 

40 

La. 

35 

38 

28 

27 

37 

Me. 

6 

10 

21 

30 

21 

Md. 

II 

9 

6K' 

7 

34 

Mass. 

I 

I 

2 

2 

2 

Mich. 

15 

26 

22 

17 

17 

Minn. 

27 

22 

30 

29 

19 

Miss. 

38 

46 

27 

26 

43 

Mo. 

29 

20 

17 

18 

30 

Mont. 

44 

31 

44>4 

43 

16 

Nebr. 

22 

23 

35 

33 

25 

Nev. 

37 

13 

40 

46 

26 

N.  H. 

4 

4 

13 

19 

13 

N.J. 

10 

16 

3 

3 

7 

N.  M. 

45 

27 

38 

42 

38 

Appendix 


143 


TABLE  II— Continued 

0^ 
c 

A.  Noted  Men 
Born   in   State 
H-  Popu.,  1870 
Rank 

B.  Noted  Men 
Resident^ 
Popu.,  1910 
Rank 

C.  Density  of 

Population, 

1870-Rank 

D.  Density  of 
Population, 
1910— Rank 

E.  Elementary 
Education, 
1910— Rank 

N.  Y. 

7 

2 

5 

5 

3 

N.  C. 

28 

40 

19 

20 

44 

N.  &  S. 

D.     46 

37 

44/2 

37 

22 

Ohio 

9 

18 

8 

8 

6 

Ore. 

19 

21 

37 

39 

15 

Penn. 

12 

17 

6y2 

6 

23 

R.  I. 

5 

5 

I 

I 

II 

S.  C. 

25 

42 

18 

16 

45 

Tenn. 

34 

33 

16 

13 

35 

Tex. 

41 

44 

34 

35 

36 

Utah 

21 

19 

36 

40 

14 

Vt. 

2 

8 

12 

25 

12 

Va. 

13 

25 

15 

14 

39 

Wash. 

20 

30 

40 

32 

I 

W.  Va. 

32 

41 

26 

15 

31 

Wis. 

14 

28 

25 

22 

27 

Wyo. 

40 

14 

443^ 

45 

28 

Correlations  from  the  above  data.  Spearman  method,  but 
coefficient  converted  to  Pearson's  "r."  (Letters  refer  to 
specified   columns   in   table.) 

48.  A&B,  0.68  ±  0.05  50.  A&E,  0.55  ±  0.07 

49.  A&C,  0.70  ±  0.05  SI.  B&D,  0.18  ±  0.10 

S3.  B&E,  0.67  ±  0.06 
S3.  D&E,  0.10  ±  0.10 


EXPLANATIONS: 

The  above  rankings  have  been  prepared  from  the  same  sources 
and  in  the  same  way  as  those  in  Table  i. 

A.  See  explanation  of  column  A,  Table  i.     A  change  is  made, 
however,  to  tne  census  of  1870. 

B.  See  explanation  of  column  Y,  Table  i. 
C  and  D.     Based  on  census  figures. 

E.     Like  column  Z,  Tablet  I,  based  on  Russell  Sage  Foundation 
investigation. 


GENERAL  REFERENCES 

Specific  references  in  connection  with  statistical  data 
are  given  in  footnotes. 

Baldwin,  J.  M.  Social  and  Ethical  Interpretations.  The 
Macmillan  Company,  New  York,  1906. 

Bergson,  Henri.  Creative  Evolution.  Henry  Holt  and 
Company,  New  York,  1911. 

Chapin,  F.  S.  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Social  Evo- 
lution.   The  Century  Co.,  New  York,  1913. 

CoNKLiN,  E.  G.  Heredity  and  Environment.  Princeton 
University  Press,  1915. 

Conn,  H.  W.  Social  Heredity  and  Social  Evolution.  The 
Abingdon  Press,  New  York,  1914. 

CooLEY,  C.  H.  Social  Organisation:  A  Study  of  the 
Larger  Mind.  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York, 
1909. 

Croly,  Herbert.  Progressive  Democracy.  The  Mac- 
millan Company,  New  York,  1915. 

Davenport,  H.  J.  Economics  of  Enterprise.  The  Mac- 
millan Company,  New  York,  1913. 

Dealey,  J.  Q.  The  Development  of  the  State.  Silver, 
Burdett  &  Company,  Boston,  1909. 

Devine,  E.  T.  Misery  and  Its  Causes.  The  Macmillan 
Company,  New  York,  1909. 

Dewey,  John.  German  Philosophy  and  Politics.  Henry 
Holt  and  Company,  New  York,  1915. 

Ellwood,  C.  a.  The  Social  Problem.  The  Macmillan 
Company,  New  York,  1915. 

Gillette,  J.  M.  Sociology.  A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co.,  Chi- 
cago, 1916. 

Herbert,  S.  First  Principles  of  Evolution.  Adam  and 
Charles  Black,  London,  1913. 

HoBHousE,  L.  T.  Social  Evolution  and  Political  Theory. 
Columbia  University  Press,  New  York,  1911. 


146  General  References 

Hollander,  J.  H.    The  Abolition  of  Poverty.    Houghton 
Mifflin  Company,  Boston,  1914. 

Howe,  Frederic  C.   Socialised  Germany.   Charles  Scrib- 

ner's  Sons,  New  York,  1915. 
Howe,   Frederic   C.     Why    War?     Charles   Scribner's 

Sons,  New  York,  1916. 
Keller,    A.    G.     Societal   Evolution.     The    Macmillan 

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INDEX 


Absentee  landlordism,  129 

American  Revolution,  27 

Animal  origins,  6 

Arnold,  Matthew,  his  pessimism  voiced,  45 

Bergson,    Henri,    reference    to    his    Creative    Evolu- 
tion, 61 
Biological  principles,  3 
Biological  viewpoint,  1,  82 

Calvin  and  his  philosophy,  1 

Cameralists,  50 

Capital,  55 

Carlyle  on  the  spirit  of  his  time,  44 

Cattell,  Dr.  J.  M.,  and  his  lists  of  men  of  science,  94 

Christianity,  127 

Civil   government,    132 

College  Education,  108 

Cooperation  of  animals,  8 

Cooperation  in  society,  63 

Correlation,  92,  100 

Creative  evolution,  60,  75 

Darwinism,  39 

Darwinism  and  Sociology,  59 

Dynamics  of  society,  70 

Economic  regulation,  130 
Educational  environment,  107 
Eugenics,  82,  118 
Eugenic  standards,   119 
Evolutionary  beginnings,  6 
Expert  leadership,  135 

Feeble-mindedness,  87 
Feudal  system,  21 

147 


148  Index 


Germ  plasm,  67 

German  evolution,  52 

Great  men  and  density  of  population,  91 

Group  selection,  10 

Growth  processes,  4 

Gumplowicz  and  his  sociology,  54 

Hegel  and  the  evolutionary  philosophy,  53 

Heredity,  4,  77 

Historical  perspective,  123 

Human  nature,  65 

Idealism,  124 

Industrial  Revolution,  80 

Kant,    the    founder    of    Germany's    working   philos- 
ophy, 52 
Kidd,  Benjamin,  and  the  exaltation  of  natural  law,  47 
Kipling,  Rudyard,  speaks  for  the  toilers,  14 

Laisses  Faire,  28 

Lamarck,  hypothesis  of  nature's  method,  39 

Locke,  and  his  philosophy,  1 

Machine  industry,  26 

Malthus,  a  champion  of  commercialism,  36,  37 

Mendelian  law,  85 

Migrations,  interstate,  96 

Mind,  influence  over  body,  79 

National  ideals,  75 

Natural  selection,  5 

Nietzsche  and  his  views  of  competition,  48 

Patriarchal  slavery,  12 

Pearson,  Karl,  and  natural  law,  47;  and  heredity,  86 

Physical  sciences,  71 

Poor  laws,  27 

Poverty,  fear  of,  130 

Professions,  110 

Psychology  of  suggestion,  84 


Index  149 


Ricardo,  and  the  economics  of  capitalism,  31,  32 
Roman  system,  17 

Smith,  Adam,  as  an  interpreter  of  economics,  30 

Social  environment.  76,  88 

Social  ideals,  76 

Social  legislation,  51,  132 

Social  origins,  10,  63 

Social  sciences,  73 

Socialization  of  education,  135 

Society  today,  17 

Spencer,  creator  of  a   world  philosophy,  40 

Spiritual  nature,  19 

Supply  and  demand,  32 

Sympodial  evolution,  121 

Tennyson,  as  reflecting  the  spirit  of  his  day,  45 
Theory  of  Malthus,  35 
Treitschke,  and  his  philosophy,   54 

Urban  influences,  91,  105 

Vegetable  life,  6 

Ward,  L.  F.,  his  monumental  statistical  work,  88 
Woman's  status,  12 

Woods,  F.  A.,  his  study  of  royal  families,  86,  87 
Wordsworth  reflects  the  pathos  of  humble  life,  44 


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